FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Penmen, Warriors to Play for a Title Saturday Afternoon
The two top seeds in the 2018 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Tennis Championship will meet in Saturday's title match as both Southern New Hampshire and Merrimack impressed during Semifinal Round action. Here's how Thursday's action went down -
#1 SNHU 5, #5 Bentley 1
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Seniors Ricardo Marreiros and Miguel Marreiros earned the first point of the match, as well as the final two, to lead top-seeded Southern New Hampshire to a 5-1 victory against fifth-seeded Bentley in the semifinal round of the NE10 Championship, which was played Thursday morning at the Executive Health & Sports Center. The Penmen advance to the NE10 final for the sixth time in eight years, including for the third straight season. SNHU will host Merrimack at the Penmen Stadium Tennis Courts on Saturday, April 21 (1 p.m.), as it goes for the first three-peat since Assumption College captured nine straight titles from 1999-07.
The Marreiros' opened the match with an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles overBrett Gilman and Michael Fuca, before fellow seniors Tiago Fernandes and Jeremy Reichentahl made it 2-0 by doubling up Dylan Granat and Connor Aulson, 8-4, at No. 3. Bentley salvaged a doubles point at No. 1, with Brendan McCarthy and George Samander edging graduate student Xavier Aubron and sophomore Bas van Biezen, 9-7.
That would be the only point the Falcons would capture, however, as Fernandes quickly made it 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles against McCarthy, with Miguel Marreiros following with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Granat at No. 3. Ricardo Marreiros then rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win against Samander at No. 2 to clinch the match.
#2 Merrimack 2, #3 Le Moyne 1
MIDDLETON, Mass. - Seniors Mikhail Belov and Frank Vega rallied from a 7-5 deficit at first doubles to record a 9-8 victory, ensuring a lead for second-seeded Merrimack entering singles play during Thursday's NE10 Semifinal match vs. third-seeded Le Moyne at the Northeast Tennis Center in Middleton, Mass. Belov, Vega and sophomore Denis Davydov proceeded to win each of their matches in straight sets, giving the Warriors a 5-1 victory and a rematch with Southern New Hampshire in the NE10 Final set for Saturday in Manchester, N.H.
The doubles portion of the match saw the third flight end first, with Le Moyne taking a 1-0 lead. The all-league second-flight duo of Davydov and junior Alex Fedorov evened the match, winning their final two games to take an 8-5 win. One of the best matches of the day came at first doubles. Le Moyne jumped ahead, 7-5, but Belov and Vega recovered. They won three straight games to pull ahead, 8-7, but Le Moyne won on serve to force a tiebreaker. Holding a 4-3 lead and serving, Vega won two straight points to move the Warriors within one point of the flight, and Belov's backhand winner gave the Navy and Gold a 2-1 lead entering singles.
Davydov's singles match finished first, as the first-year Warrior dominated the second flight (6-2, 6-1). Belov wore down his opponent at the top flight, emerging from the first set with a 6-3 win before taking the final four games of his second set, 6-1. For the second straight NE10 Semifinal, third singles clinched the win for the Navy and Gold. Vega posted identical 6-4 triumphs at No. 3 to claim the match.
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: #2 Merrimack 5, #3 Le Moyne 1
Match 4: #1 Southern New Hampshire 5, #5 Bentley 1
Saturday, April 21st
Championship
Match 5: #1 SNHU vs. #2 Merrimack | 1:00 p.m. (at SNHU's Penmen Stadium Tennis Courts)
- Information for this release provided by the athletic communications staffs at Merrimack and Southern New Hampshire
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.