Men's Tennis Falls to UMass Boston in LEC Semifinals

WEYMOUTH, Mass. -- Top-seeded UMass Boston posted a 5-2 victory over #4 Bridgewater State University in the semifinal round of the 2017 Little East Conference Men's Tennis Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the Weymouth Tennis Club.

The host Beacons improve to 9-7 on the season and advance to the tournament championship match for the fourth time in the last five years. UMass will host second-seeded UMass Dartmouth in a rematch of the 2013 Little East Conference Finals on Saturday at the Weymouth Tennis Club starting at 2 p.m.

The visiting Bears end the season with an overall record of 6-7.

Just six days after playing each other in their regular-season finale, UMass Boston followed a similar script to open the LEC Tournament. The Beacons earned wins at second and third doubles to open the match and tacked on wins at first, third and fifth singles to earn a spot in Saturday's finals.

The Beacons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in doubles, thanks to four players making their LEC Tournament debuts. Freshmen Guang Huang (Quincy, Mass.) and Ray Platteel (Holbrook, Mass.) opened the match with a dominant 8-1 win at third doubles. Fellow rookies Tin Tran (Quincy, Mass.) and Onkgopotse Mokoka (Pretoria, South Africa) quickly made it 2-0 with an 8-2 win at second doubles.

Bridgewater State cut the deficit to 2-1 at the top doubles flight. Seniors Chris Jastrab (Chicago, Ill.) and Matt McGee (Warren, R.I.) earned an early break and held on for an 8-6 victory.

Freshman Alexander Comerchero (Brookline, Mass.) pushed the lead back to two with a 6-1, 6-3 straight set win at third singles. Junior Austin DeLasse (Mexico City, Mexico) put the Beacons within a point of winning the match at first singles with a 6-4, 6-3 straight set win to make it 4-1.

Bridgewater State staved off elimination and cut the deficit to 4-2 with a win at second singles as Jastrab cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 straight set victory.

UMass Boston closed out the match at fifth singles. Junior Sanshrut Sharma (Mumbai, India) battled back from a set down to earn a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win and clinch the match for the Beacons.

In the final two matches that did not finish, Bridgewater State senior Michael Delisle (Berkley, Mass.) led at fourth singles in the third set (1-6, 6-3, 5-2), and the two teams were tied at one set apiece at number six singles.

Notes: Jastrab finished the season with an overall singles record of 12-1 with a perfect 8-0 mark against Little East opponents.