GORHAM, Maine—Three-time defending Little East Conference Champion University of Southern Maine took a 2-1 lead after doubles play and cruised to a 5-1 win over #3 Men's Tennis Saturday afternoon in the LEC Championship Match.
THE BASICS
(University of Southern Maine 11-2)
(UMass Boston 8-12)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The top-seeded Huskies rode the strength of their top four players to earn their third title in as many years.
Senior captain Tyler Adams won his 40th consecutive singles match at number one singles, to earn Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
For the Beacons, sophomore Adhirath Bhatotia (New Delhi, India) and Sanshrut Sharma (Mumbai, India) earned the Beacons' lone victory. The pair combined for a dominant 8-1 win at third doubles.
Southern Maine opened the match with an easy victory at second doubles. The Huskies pairing of Eric Berry-Sandelin and Samuel Holland took an 8-0 win over Austin DeLasse (Mexico City, Mexico) and Guang Huang (Quincy, Mass.).
After the Beacons evened the match at 1-1 with their win at third doubles, Tyler Adams and Kyle Curley gave Southern Maine a 2-1 advantage with an 8-3 win over Jack Wang (Suzhou, China) and Josh Bhasin (Tulsa, Okla.).
With momentum on their side, the Huskies kept it going into singles play, as they took the first set on all four available courts.
Adams made it 3-1, as he defeated DeLasse 6-2, 6-0 in first singles.
It was 4-1 moments later, when Curley took down Bhasin 6-2, 6-1 on court two.
UMass Boston was much more competitive on the two far courts, as Bhatotia and Wang were consistently involved in long rallies.
After fighting with an injury from doubles on, Bhatotia eventually wore down and was defeated 6-4, 6-1 by Holland in fourth singles.
When the match reached a decision, Wang was trailing 6-3, 2-1 in third singles and Sharma was just underway in fifth singles.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Saturday's match marked the Beacons' third trip to the Little East Conference Tournament Championship Match in five years.
- Sharma earned his first collegiate doubles victory in the win. He ends his sophomore and debut season with 13 victories.
- The match marked the final collegiate match for Wang, Vlad Leopard (Carnikava, Latvia) and Zeke Hernandez (Baytown, Texas).
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will return seven of their 10 players, including four of their top five players in their lineup.
