Queens Village, N.Y. - The Adelphi Univeristy men's tennis team faced off against the Warriors of Merrimack College on Sunday afternoon in a battle of teams unbeaten in the Northeast-10. The Panthers, winners of their last five matches, were unable to come up with the victory as they eventually fell by a 6-3 score. With the loss, Adelphi drops to 5-5 overall and 4-1 in the NE-10 while Merrimack remains perfect at 6-0 in conference play and 8-6 overall.

The Panthers dropped all three doubles points to fall in an early hole. Sebastian Zapata and Ryan Villarruel and Chiwete Njokanma and Justin Vijungco battled in their first and third doubles matches, but both teams fell by an 8-5 score.

In solo play, the Panthers struggled early and both Sander Brenner and Villarruel dropped their first and second singles matches, 6-0, 6-2, and 6-2, 6-4, respectively. The remaining singles matches were then decided by eight-game pro sets, where Litvinchuk, Njokanma and Vijungco all picked up wins. Njokanma battled in the best match of the day for the Panthers, coming out on top 9-8(10-8) in a tiebreak.

Singles
1. Miguel Belfort (MER) d. Sander Brenner (AU) 6-0 6-2
2. Matt Pronesti (MER) d. Ryan Villarruel (AU) 6-2 6-4
3. Vince Bellino (MER) d. Sebastian Zapata (AU) 8-2
4. Uladzislau Litvinchuk (AU) d. James Barnhart (MER) 8-2
5. Chiwete Njokanma (AU) d.  Nick Majewski (MER) 9-8(10-8)
6. Justin Vijungco (AU) d. Tayyab Sheikh (MER) 8-4

Doubles
1. Pronesti/C. Barhart (MER) d. Zapata/Villarruel (AU) 8-5
2. Belfort/Bellino (MER) d. Brenner/Litvinchuk (AU) 8-2
3. J. Barnhart/Majewski (MER) d. Njokanma/Vijungco (AU) 8-5

Up Next
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, April 5 when they host the Skyhawks of Stonehill College in a 10 am NE-10 match.