COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's tennis team capped a three-match home week with a 9-0 loss to regionally-ranked Adelphi University on Sunday in the Tarrant Recreation Center. The Purple Knights are 1-9 overall and 0-4 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Panthers improved to 5-2 and 3-0.
Saint Michael's, which played three times in the last six days but will face only five more regular-season opponents in the next 18 days, won 36 games from Adelphi, 11 more than last year, and its most since 2012. The Panthers, who are fifth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region poll, qualified for the last three NCAA Tournaments.
Senior Hayden Steward (Hamilton, Mass./Pingree School) and first-year Matt Mosher (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) had their second close decision of the weekend at No. 2 doubles. After losing an 8-5 contest on Saturday to Stonehill College in their first match together, the duo came even closer to notching a victory on Sunday, falling 9-8 (7-2). The Purple Knights' other two tandems won a combined two games.
In singles, senior Ben Lambert (Milford, N.H./Milford) fell in three sets at No. 1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, but not before taking a one-set lead on junior Matteo Cannavera, the East Region's sixth-ranked player, who entered the day having won 28 consecutive sets during NE10 regular-season play since a three-set triumph in his first career league match on March 21, 2015. It was his first opening-set loss in 16 career NE10 outings. Cannavera had lost only two sets in dual matches in his first six appearances of the year, both against a regionally-ranked player from Queens (N.Y.) College.
Sophomore Jake Remillard (Saint Albans, Vt./BFA-Saint Albans) had a pair of close losses during a 6-4, 6-3 setback in the sixth spot, and Mosher suffered a 6-2, 6-4 defeat at No. 4. Steward fell in straight sets, with his opening set going down as a 6-3 loss in the fifth position.
The Purple Knights take on Bentley University on Wednesday at the Adirondack Club in Franklin, Mass., at 1 p.m.
