DANBURY, Conn.—UMass Boston men's tennis earned four comeback victories in singles play, to grab a 7-2 win over Little East Conference foe Western Connecticut State University.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 7, Western Connecticut State University 2
(UMass Boston 4-9, Little East 2-1)
(Western Connecticut State 2-8, Little East 1-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After earning a pair of doubles victories, UMass Boston needed rallies at second, fourth, fifth and sixth singles to secure a close conference victory.
Senior captain Vlad Leopard (Carnikava, Latvia) went 2-0 on the afternoon, in a rematch of the 2014 and 2015 LEC Semifinals.
Austin DeLasse (Mexico City, Mexico) and Guang Huang (Quincy, Mass.) opened the match with a win at second doubles for the Beacons, as the two cruised to an 8-2 win.
UMass Boston pushed the lead to 2-0 at third doubles, as Leopard and Hector Mata (San Salvador, El Salvador) held off the Colonials with an 8-6 victory.
The Colonials secured a key point at number one singles, as Jason Hipona and Marco Gobbato knocked off Josh Bhasin (Tulsa, Okla.) and Jack Wang (Suzhou, China).
UMass Boston made it 3-1 at the start of singles play, with Wang defeating Benjamin Cortez 6-0, 6-1 at number three singles.
Western Connecticut State answered back with their lone singles point, as Gobbato handed DeLasse a 6-4, 6-0 defeat.
With the match winner still very much in question, UMass Boston found themselves in a tough spot, as all four of their singles players trailed at some point.
Bhasin secured a 7-5, 6-4 win at number two singles, but only after trailing 5-1 in the first set to Hipona.
Leopard clinched the match win at 5-2, with a victory at number five singles. The senior captain took the first set 7-6 (7-5), but dropped the second set 6-1. He was trailing 4-2 in the third and final set, only to come roaring back to earn a 6-4 third-set win.
Sanshrut Sharma (Mumbai, India) only needed two sets at number four singles, in another extremely tight match. Sharma took the first 7-6 (7-3), but trailed 4-1 in the second, before taking the set and the match 6-4.
On court six, senior Wyatt Towle (Woburn, Mass.) needed a comeback win of his own in a thrilling three-set battle. He dropped the first set 7-6 (9-7), but extended the match with a 6-2 second-set win. Things were looking ugly though in the third, as Matt O'Keefe was one point away from clinching the win. Trailing 5-3 and 40-love in the third set, Towle came all the way back to earn a 7-5 third-set win.
BY THE NUMBERS
- In all, Sharma, Leopard and Wang combined to win the final 13 games of their singles matches.
- The Beacons improved to 7-9 all-time against the Colonials with their victory. The Beacons have won six in a row against Western Connecticut State, including ending WCSU's season in each of the past two years.
- UMass Boston continued their run of trading wins and losses, UMass Boston is 3-4 in New England and 3-3 in their last six.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will host Salem State University on Tuesday at 3 p.m., as they look for their third-consecutive LEC win.
