Men's Tennis Falls to Salem State, 8-1

SALEM, Mass. -- The Salem State University men's tennis team posted an 8-1 Little East Conference (LEC) win over visiting Bridgewater State University in the regular season finale for both teams on Sunday afternoon at the Central Campus Courts.

The Vikings improve to 7-5 on the season and 4-2 in the Little East, while the Bears fall to 9-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Salem is seeded second in the upcoming Little East Tournament and will have a first round bye. Bridgewater is the #3 seed and will host a first round match on Tuesday afternoon (TBA) against #6 University of Southern Maine.

Salem captured two of the three tightly contested doubles matches and swept the six singles flights to earn the victory.

Seniors Kendan Ziegler (Hadley, N.Y.) and Darius Desnoes (Ithaca, N.Y.) picked up the Bears' lone doubles point with an 8-6 triumph at third doubles.

Graduate student Andrew Muttiah (Colombo, Sri Lanka) and junior Cory Cherico (Winthrop, Mass.) teamed up for an 8-6 decision at first doubles for the Vikings, while senior Roni Brazile (Brockton, Mass.) and sophomore Parker Andreoli (Windham, N.H.) paired up for an 8-6 win at the second flight.

Muttiah (6-0, 6-2) and Chirico (6-3, 7-5) added straight set singles wins for the hosts at the first and fourth flights, respectively. Bazile battled back from a set down to post a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 triumph at second singles.

Seniors Grant Bellino (Amesbury, Mass.) and Giacomo Graziani (East Boston, Mass.), and freshman Adam Stanneck (Washington, N.J.) added singles victories for the Salem State. Graziani won in straight sets at fifth singles, 6-1, 6-2, while Swanneck came back from a set down to record a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision at number six. Bellino won in a super tie-breaker at third singles, 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.