BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Suffolk men's tennis slipped on the road in non-conference action to Bridgewater State, 6-3, Thursday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Bridgewater State 6
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-2) | Bridgewater State (4-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles action finished in order with the Bears taking points on courts one and two, respectively, before the Rams broke on the scoreboard thanks to the racquets of Ben Bricker and Haik Semerdjian. The seniors teamed up to take down Darius Desnoes and Robert Dwyer, 8-4, to keep the blue-and-gold within one, 2-1, as the match headed to singles play.
Bridgewater State quickly sealed Suffolk's setback fate, however, as the host secured winning decisions in the third, first and fifth spots, in that order, to clinch the triumph.
From there, the Rams sandwiched three-set tie-breaking singles victories from the sixth and second slot around a defeat at No. 4 for the final 6-3 margin.
In the sixth position, Matthew Gallego came back after dropping the first set, 6-3, to win the second by an identical score and upstaged Dan Salzberg in the tie breaker, 10-3.
Dylan Katz bested Colin Lamusta, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5, at No. 2 to wrap up the day.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
1 – Jeff Pavao/Colin Lamusta (Bridgewater State) defeated Hasan Esrawi/Diego Hernandez-Pons (Suffolk), 8-3
2 – Kendan Ziegler/Sean Nutter (Bridgewater State) defeated Dylan Katz/Juan Velasquez (Suffolk), 8-2
3 – Ben Bricker/Haik Semerdjian (Suffolk) defeated Darius Desnoes/Robert Dwyer (Bridgewater State), 8-4
SINGLES
1 – Jeff Pavao (Bridgewater State) defeated Hasan Esrawi (Suffolk), 6-1, 6-3
2 – Dylan Katz (Suffolk) defeated Colin Lamusta (Bridgewater State), 4-6, 7-5, 10-5
3 – Kendan Ziegler (Bridgewater State) defeated Diego Hernandez-Pons (Suffolk), 6-2, 6-1
4 – Sean Nutter (Bridgewater State) defeated Juan Velasquez (Suffolk), 6-3, 6-4
5 – Darius Desnoes (Bridgewater State) defeated Ben Bricker (Suffolk), 6-2, 6-4
6 – Matthew Gallego (Suffolk) defeated Dan Salzberg (Bridgewater State), 3-6, 6-3, 10-3
ORDER OF FINISH: Doubles (1, 2, 3), Singles (3, 1, 5, 6, 4, 2)
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk tangled with Bridgewater State for the first time since 2019.
- The Rams dipped to 5-6 versus the Bears since 2009.
- Katz improved to 2-1 in singles play this season.
- Gallego made his collegiate debut.
- Gallego is unbeaten in singles play this year (1-0).
- Bricker and Semerdjian are undefeated (2-0) as a double pair this year. The duo has played exclusively on the third court.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk returns to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action this weekend when it tangles with Western New England and Wentworth. The Rams trek to Springfield, Massachusetts Saturday, April 2 to taken on the Golden Bears at 12 p.m., before traveling to Weston, Massachusetts to clash with the Leopards at Regis College at 2 p.m. the following day, Sunday, April 3.