Buckley (left) and Lisichenok nearly battled back for a point at No. 3 doubles today. |
Blythe and Barton lead Dolphins to first postseason win in program history
DEWITT, N.Y. (April 17, 2018) – Third-seeded Le Moyne College, ranked No. 7 in last week's NCAA Division II East Regional rankings and No. 8 in the most recent Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region rankings, swept past sixth-seeded Stonehill College, 5-0, in first round action of the 2018 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Tennis Tournament at Elevate Fitness Club today.
Le Moyne (13-4, 7-2 NE10) advances to Thursday's NE10 semifinal round, and will visit second-seeded Merrimack College (13-8, 8-1 NE10), ranked fourth in the region, at 2 p.m. The Warriors received a first round bye in the tournament as one of the top two seeds. Stonehill sees its season come to an end with a 10-9 record overall, including 4-5 in the NE10, returning to the NE10 Tournament for a Conference record matching 18th time after a one year absence.
Senior Jason Barton (Lima, Ohio/Shawnee) and sophomore Philip Blythe (Edinburgh, Scotland) led Le Moyne to its first NE10 Tournament win in program history as double-winners today. Blythe and senior Hallam Doney (Andover, England), the No. 5-ranked doubles pairing in the Oracle/ITA East Region rankings, fought past Stonehill senior Thomas Bellio (Saint Joseph, Michigan/Saint Joseph) and freshman Trent Newman (Old Greenwich, Connecticut/South Burlington) for an 8-5 win at No. 1. Bellio and Newman held an early advantage in the match after posting a 9-7 triumph over the Dolphins duo last week, but were unable to repeat the win over the regionally-ranked pairing. Blythe, ranked No. 14 in the Oracle/ITA East Region singles rankings, followed that up with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles against Bellio.
Barton provided the match-clinching point for Le Moyne with his 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles against Stonehill sophomore Manu Ravichandrakumar (Chennai, India/Saddlebrook Prep (Fla.)). Barton and junior Andres Hernandez (Monterrey, Mexico) combined for an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles for the Dolphins first point of the match.
While Bellio and Newman were battling in their doubles match for Stonehill, seniors Nikolay Lisichenok (Danvers, Massachusetts/Danvers) and Tom Buckley (Hebron, Connecticut/RHAM) rallied from 7-4 down in their match at No. 3 doubles, before being edged 8-6 by juniors Xavier Graells (Castellar del Vallès, Spain) and Tyler Underwood (Minoa, New York/East Syracuse-Minoa). Freshman Russell White (Toronto, Ontario/Saddlebrook Prep (Fla.)) won the opening set and was up in the second in his match at No. 3 singles for the Skyhawks against Graells when the match was halted after Le Moyne clinched the deciding point.
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