QUINCY, Mass.—Sophomore Guang Huang (Quincy, Mass.) earned a third-set super tiebreaker win at sixth singles to help UMass Boston men's tennis avoid a shutout at the hands of host Eastern Nazarene College.
THE BASICS
Eastern Nazarene College 8, UMass Boston 1
(UMass Boston 3-9)
(Eastern Nazarene 9-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Huang took the first set 6-3 at sixth-flight singles, before dropping the second 6-1. In a lengthy super tiebreaker, the sophomore held on to earn a 10-7 win in the final singles match to finish.
Eastern Nazarene dominated doubles play in a 3-0 sweep, as they dropped just seven total games.
Their top pair defeated Josh Bhasin (Tulsa, Okla.) and Jack Wang (Suzhou, China) 8-0 to open the match. Moments later, Shaw Campbell and Yahalel Carter downed Zeke Hernandez (Baytown, Texas) and Hector Mata (San Salvador, El Salvador) 8-2 at number three doubles.
In the tightest of the three doubles matches, Austin DeLasse (Mexico City, Mexico) and Huang put up a big fight, before falling 8-5 at number two doubles.
Singles play would be slightly more competitive, as the Beacons put up stiff competition on three of the six courts.
The Lions earned the win with wins at fifth and first singles, as the two Eastern Nazarene players combined to drop just five games. After a win at second singles pushed the lead to 6-0, UMass Boston nearly came away with the final three points.
Andres Biondi broke Sanshrut Sharma's (Mumbai, India) recent winning streak, with a 6-2, 6-4 win at fourth singles.
On court three, Wang went the distance with Kevin Paterno, but fell 6-2, 2-6, 10-5 in a third-set super tiebreaker.
That set the stage for Huang, who helped the Beacons avoid the shutout against their local rivals.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston dropped to 0-3 this season after winning a match.
- Huang snapped a two-match losing streak in singles play and improved to 2-4 on the season.
- With the loss, the Beacons fell to 23-10 all-time against the Lions. Eastern Nazarene earned a 9-0 win last year over the Beacons.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will take the long trek to Danbury, Connecticut on Saturday, as they take on LEC foe Western Connecticut State University at 1 p.m. The Beacons have won five-straight against the Colonials, including back-to-back LEC Semifinal victories the past two seasons.
