NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College men's tennis team dropped its first decision of the 2012-13 season on Sunday, losing 9-0 to defending Northeast-10 Conference Tournament champion Merrimack College in league play at North Andover High School. The Warriors, who were also beginning their season, have qualified for the past five NCAA Tournaments and now won 43 of their last 46 regular-season conference matches.

The Purple Knights' junior doubles pairing of Chris Allen (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) and Tom Brahm (Marlborough, Conn./Xavier) grabbed two games in the No. 3 position, but fell to senior Chris Toegemann (Narragansett, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) and first-year Mark Mallory (Portland, Ore./US Grant) by a tally of 8-2.

First-year Charlie Merry (Kennebunkport, Maine/Kennebunk) won a total of four games in his collegiate debut at the No. 5 singles position for Saint Michael's, ultimately falling 6-3, 6-1 to Toegemann. Seniors Chris Moskal (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) and Kenny Vassallo (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) also won multiple games for the Purple Knights at No. 2 and 4, respectively, with Moskal taking three games during a second-set loss.

Saint Michael's is back in action on Sept. 29, when it travels to face Stonehill College in an NE-10 match scheduled for 11 a.m.