BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Suffolk men's tennis picked up its first victory of the 2023 season as it put together a thrilling 5-4 comeback to take down Bridgewater State at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Center.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Bridgewater State 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-2) | Bridgewater State (0-2)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk fell behind 2-1 after doubles play. The Rams put the first point of the day on the board as the second-team tandem of Mehdi Mered and Diego Hernandez-Pons combined for an 8-3 doubles victory over Sean Nutter and Adam Beatrice on court two.

The Bears took down the blue-and-gold on courts one and three in that order to send Suffolk into singles down one. 

Bridgewater State lengthen the gap even further in as Tyler Barros swept Milind Kulkarni in the sixth slot and Beatrice trumped Hasan Esrawi, 6-1, 6-0, on court three. 

Down three with match one set-up for BSU, Suffolk rattled off wins at one, four and two, to even the playing field. 

Suffolk's ace Mered took Kendan Ziegler. Hernandez-Pons defeated Charles Fiske, 6-3, 6-4, from the fourth position before Daniel Dayn rallied around Nutter, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, at the second spot to even the match at 4-all.  

With the match on the line, all eyes landed on court five where Mikhail Reilly faced Matthew Krampf. Reilly registered the first set, 6-1, and Krampf followed suit with a 6-1 second-set decision to force a tiebreaker. Suffolk's junior controlled it from the get go and locked up the court and match with a 6-4 victory. 

RESULTS
SINGLES
1 – Mehdi Mered (Suffolk) defeated Kendan Ziegler (Bridgewater State), 6-2, 6-3
2 – Daniel Dayn (Suffolk) defeated Sean Nutter (Bridgewater State), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
3 – Adam Beatrice (Bridgewater State) defeated Hasan Esrawi (Suffolk), 6-1, 6-0
4 – Diego Hernandez-Pons (Suffolk) defeated Charles Fiske (Bridgewater State), 6-3, 6-4
5 – Mikhail Reilly (Suffolk) defeated Matthew Krampf (Bridgewater State) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
6 – Tyler Barros (Bridgewater State) defeated Milind Kulkarni (Suffolk), 6-0, 6-0

DOUBLES
1 – Kendan Ziegler/Charles Fiske (Bridgewater State) defeated Daniel Dayn/Hasan Esrawi (Suffolk), 8-4
2 – Mehdi Mered/Diego Hernandez-Pons (Suffolk) defeated Sean Nutter/Adam Beatrice (Bridgewater State), 8-3
3 – Matthew Krampf/Charles Malinowski (Bridgewater State) defeated Mikhail Reilly/Zach Dobbs (Suffolk), 8-5 

Orders of Finish: Singles (6, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5) | Doubles (2, 1, 3)

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk snapped a four-match skid against Bridgewater State to level the all-time series with the Bears since 2009 at 6-6. 
• It is the first win for the Rams over the Bears since April 9, 2015. 
• Mered and Hernandez-Pons won their first match as a doubles team. 
• Mered, Dayn and Reilly all recorded their first singles collegiate wins. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk returns to its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) this Saturday, April 1 when it heads to Nichols for a 6:30 p.m. match at the Blodgett Tennis Center at the Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut.