North Andover, Mass.- The Adelphi University men's tennis team, seeded No. 4 in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament, traveled to Massachusetts to take on the top-seeded Merrimack College Warriors in the semifinals on Thursday afternoon. The Panthers were unable to rally after trailing 2-1 following doubles play, and the hosts picked up the three singles points necessary to clinch the victory, 5-1. The Warriors advanced to the NE-10 Championship for the third-straight season and improve to 13-7, while the Panthers drop to 11-7 overall on the year.

Merrimack held a 2-1 lead after doubles action. At No.1, Matt Pronesti and Chris Barnhart proved to be too much for Ryan Villarruel and Sebastian Zapata and came away with an 8-1 victory. At second flight, Miguel Belfort and Vince Bellino prevailed with an 8-2 win over Uladzislau Litvinchuk and Sander Brenner. Chiwete Njokanma and Justin Vijungco secured Adelphi's only point in doubles, and later the match, as they rallied for a 9-7 win at No. 3 doubles over James Barnhart and Nick Majewski.

The Warriors came out strong in singles play, taking the next three points to clinch the win. Pronesti put the hosts ahead 3-1 with his 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 win over Brenner at No. 1, while Chris Barnhart posted a 6-0, 6-7, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Zapata. Belfort clinched the match for the host Warriors with his 6-0, 6-0 win over Villarruel at No. 3. Njokanma was leading Bellino by a 6-4, 1-0 score when played was called.

Singles
1. Matt Pronesti (MER) def. Sander Brenner (ADE) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
2. Miguel Belfort (MER) def. Sebastian Zapata (ADE) 6-0, 6-7, 6-1
3. Chris Barnhart (MER) def. Ryan Villarruel (ADE) 6-0, 6-0
4. Chiwete Njokanma (ADE) led Vince Bellino (MER) 6-4, 1-0 (unfinished)
5. Uladzislau Litvinchuk (ADE) vs. James Barnhart (MER) not played
6. Justin Vijungco (ADE) vs. Nick Majewski (MER) not played

Doubles
1. Pronesti/Barnhart (MER) def. Villarruel/Zapata (ADE) 8-1
2. Belfort/Bellino (MER) def. Litvinchuk/Brenner (ADE) 8-2
3. Njokanma/Vijunqco (ADE) def. Barnhart/Majewski (MER) 9-7

Coach's Thoughts on the Match
"Merrimack has proven the strongest team in conference this season," Head Coach Michael Misiti stated. "They're lead by an excellent coach, and have shown no faults yet this season. I am proud of the men, as we gave them a real fight, and improved upon our previous scoreline against them. Tactically, we've really improved and learned a lot this season and we will make another run at this conference next year. The entire group will remain intact next year and I am very excited about where his team can go."

Up Next
The Panthers will await to see if they are awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, as the field will be announced at 8 pm on April 29 on ncaa.com. Adelphi checked in at No. 5 in the latest East Regional rankings, which were released on April 23.