Links: Box Score
HAVERHILL, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's tennis team swept the doubles flight on Saturday afternoon against Fairfield University at Cedardale Health & Fitness, but the visiting Stags proceeded to win four of six singles matches to claim a 4-3 win over the Warriors.
Merrimack won at No. 1-3 doubles by scores of 6-2, 6-3 and 6-1, respectively, to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Junior
Alec Mackay Rodriguez and sophomore
Pedro de Godoy Mancini won three-set matches at fourth and sixth singles for Merrimack, but the Stags prevailed at that the four other flights.
The Basics
Score: Fairfield 4,
Merrimack 3
Records: Merrimack (0-3) | Fairfield (1-0)
Location: Haverhill, Mass. | Cedardale Health & Fitness
Rapid Recap
- Merrimack's three doubles pairings each posted their first wins of the season on Saturday. At the top flight, the freshmen duo of Jan Semerak and Aryaan Bhatia notched a 6-2 triumph. For Semerak, it marked his first-ever doubles win, and for Bhatia, it marked his first-ever collegiate win of any kind. Classmates Jonathan Garcia and Mackay Rodriguez won at No. 2, 6-3, and junior Andre Singer joined de Godoy Mancini to dominate the third flight, 6-1
- Four of the six singles matches went three sets (including one 10-point tiebreaker). Fairfield won two-set matches at third and fifth singles to get two points back, but Merrimack countered with two points of its own at No. 4 and No. 6. Mackay Rodriguez recovered from a first-set loss to dominate his second and third frames, winning by 6-0 and 6-2 margins to record the victory. Mancini needed a tiebreak to win his opener, 7-6 (5), but faltered in the second frame. Sixth singles then went to a 10-point tiebreak, which Mancini won by a 10-8 margin to claim the match
- The top-two flights went Fairfield's way, however, to give the Stags the points they needed to win. Semerak rebounded from a 6-2 loss in his first set with a 6-2 triumph of his own in the second to force a third and deciding frame. Fairfield's Kaya Gore edged Semerak there, 6-4. At No. 2, Garcia won a tiebreak, 7-6 (3), to also force a third set, but Fairfield also prevailed in that set, 7-5
Up Next
Merrimack plays another non-conference match tomorrow at Cedardale when the Warriors host Siena.
