FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Falcons, 'Phins Advance to Thursday's Semifinals
Third-seeded Le Moyne rolled, while fifth-seeded Bentley went on the road and pulled the upset during the First Round of the 2018 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Tennis Championship. Here's how Tuesday's action played out -
#3 Le Moyne 5, #6 Stonehill 0
DEWITT, N.Y. – Third-seeded Le Moyne registered its 10th straight win, a 5-0 victory, over sixth-seeded Stonehill in the first round of the NE10 Championships on Tuesday afternoon at Elevate Fitness.
With the victory, Le Moyne improves to 13-4, earns its first win in the conference championship and advances to the NE10 semifinals for the first time in the program's history. The Dolphins will visit second-seeded Merrimack on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. The Warriors handed the Dolphins their last loss, 5-4, in the regular-season matchup on February 25.
The Dolphins took a 3-0 lead in the match by sweeping the doubles competition for the eighth time in the last nine matches. Junior Andres Hernandez and senior Jason Barton registered the first point of the day by winning their 10th straight match, 8-3, over Russell White and Manu Ravichandrakumar at the second position. Juniors Xavier Graells and Tyler Underwood recorded their 13th consecutive victory by defeating Nikolay Lisichenok and Tom Buckley at the third spot, 8-6. Sophomore Philip Blythe and senior Hallam Doney completed the sweep with an 8-5 come-from-behind win at the top position over Thomas Bellio and Trent Newman.
In the singles competition, the Dolphins won the first two that were completed to collect the victory. At the first spot, Blythe cruised past Bellio, 6-0, 6-1, for his 13th win of the season. Barton closed out the match by defeating Ravichandrakumar at the fourth position, 6-2, 6-3, for his team-best 11th dual match win of the year.
#5 Bentley 5, #4 Franklin Pierce 1
BEVERLY, Mass. – Bentley advanced to the semifinals of the NE10 Men's Tennis Championship with a 5-1 victory over Franklin Pierce in the first round on Tuesday afternoon at the Bass River Tennis Club.
Bentley won two of the three doubles matches for an early 2-1 lead, then won all three of the singles matches that finished to seal the victory. Junior Michael Fuca won in both doubles and singles to lead the charge. The Falcons will face the top seed Southern New Hampshire in the semifinals on Thursday. The Falcons have now advanced to the NE10 semifinals every year since 2007.
Fuca and Brett Gilman combined for an 8-3 win in No. 2 doubles over Yuval Barak and Marcus Lawrence. The team of seniors Brendan McCarthy and George Samander were also victorious, as they defeated freshman Roberto Chong and Andrew Schadt 8-4 in the No. 1 match.
In singles play, Bentley cruised to three wins in the No. 4-No. 6 matches. Freshman Daniel Weitz, pictured, dropped just one game in defeating Schadt 6-1, 6-0 in No. 4. Fuca knocked off Lawrence 6-3, 6-1 in No. 5, and freshman Connor Aulson won his 13th straight singles match, with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Matt Toombs in No. 6.
2018 NE10 Men's Tennis Championship Seeds
1. Southern New Hampshire (9-0)
2. Merrimack (8-1)
3. Le Moyne (7-2)
4. Franklin Pierce (5-4) *
5. Bentley (5-4) *
6. Stonehill (4-5) **
* Franklin Pierce earned the #4 seed based on a head-to-head win vs. Bentley.
** Adelphi also finished with a 4-5 record; Stonehill earned the #6 seed based on a head-to-head win vs. Adelphi.
2018 NE10 Men's Tennis Championship Schedule
Tuesday, April 17th
First Round
Match 1: #3 Le Moyne 5, #6 Stonehill 0
Match 2: #5 Bentley 5, #4 Franklin Pierce 1
Thursday, April 19th
Semifinals
Match 3: #3 Le Moyne at #2 Merrimack | 2:00 pm *
Match 4: #5 Bentley at #1 Southern New Hampshire | 2:00 pm *
*Please note that 2pm is listed time for outdoor play; should matches be moved inside due to inclement weather, times may change.
Saturday, April 21st
Championship
Match 5: Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner | 1:00 p.m. (at Higher Seed)
- Additional information for this release provided by the athletic communications staffs at Bentley and Le Moyne
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 15 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 student-athletes compete in conference championships, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.