WEYMOUTH, Mass.—Four Beacons went 2-0 to lead UMass Boston men's tennis past Salem State University in a matchup of the final two undefeated teams in Little East Conference play.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 8, Salem State 1
(UMass Boston 7-4, Little East 4-0)
(Salem State 8-4, Little East 2-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beacons needed just two hours and 12 minutes to earn a key victory over the shorthanded Vikings.
Salem State started the match with just five available players and UMass Boston never relented in earning their 12th-straight LEC victory.
Austin DeLasse (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Miguel Beltran (Ashland, Mass.), Josh Bhasin (Tulsa, Okla.) and Onkgopotse Mokoka (Pretoria, South Africa) all went 2-0 in the victory.
UMass Boston started the match with an 8-5 victory at first singles, as Beltran and Mokoka defeated John DiDonato and Mitchell Dyer.
DeLasse and Bhasin teamed up for an 8-4 win at second singles to give the Beacons a 3-0 lead after doubles play.
Mokoka clinched the match victory for UMass Boston, when he cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Salem's Noah Hodgkins.
DeLasse pushed UMass Boston's lead to 6-0 when he defeated reigning LEC Player of the Week Chen Chen 6-0, 7-5 at first-flight singles.
Bhasin kept the momentum going with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Dyer at third singles.
Salem State broke the shutout, when Roni Brazile defeated Sanshrut Sharma (Mumbai, India) 6-2, 6-4.
In the final match of the day to finish, Beltran knocked off DiDonato 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 at second singles.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston improved to 20-4 this season in LEC singles matches. The Beacons have won at least four of six singles matches in all four conference matches.
- Mokoka improved to 8-0 on the year in conference play with his two wins.
- DeLasse returned to the Beacons' lineup after missing Saturday's match against Rhode Island College.
- The Vikings were playing without their number one singles player Andrew Muttiah.
- With one conference win in their final two matchups, UMass Boston will wrap up their second-straight LEC Regular Season Title.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will host the University of Southern Maine on Saturday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.
