COLCHESTER, Vt. - First-year Ferm Koppelmans (Veghel, The Netherlands/Udens College) won the final and deciding singles match to lift the Saint Michael's College men's tennis team over Bentley University, 4-3, on Saturday during Northeast 10 Conference play in the Tarrant Recreation Center. The Purple Knights won their fourth straight match and are within one victory of a 45-year-old school record.
 
Seniors Simon Lundholm (Le Luc, France/CNED) and Julius van den Broek (Bergschenhoek, The Netherlands/Wolfert Lyceum) were honored during their Senior Day match.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (9-4, 2-4 NE10), Bentley (4-4, 3-3 NE10)

LEADERS

• Koppelmans, 2 wins
• Lundholm, 2 wins
• Junior Garrett Brooker (Charleston, S.C./Oceanside Collegiate Academy), 2 wins
• Junior Viktor Boban (Zagreb, Croatia/Franjo Bucar/Frostburg State), 1 win
• Sophomore Richard Lin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons), 1 win
• Sophomore Jamie Macpherson (Durham, United Kingdom/Framwellgate School Durham), 1 win

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple Knights won for the sixth time in their last eight matches with Bentley.
• Saint Michael's split the two-match regular-season series after the Falcons won by the same 4-3 score on Sept. 20.
• The Purple and Gold's ninth win matches three other squads for the program's most since winning a school-record 10 matches in 1980-81.
• Saint Michael's won its fourth 4-3 outing of the year, with three coming down to the final singles match.
• Lundholm improved to 10-2 this season in singles, while he and Macpherson are 8-3 as a doubles tandem.
• Boban and Brooker also picked up their eighth doubles victory together.

THE ACTION

• Lundholm and Macpherson opened doubles play with a sweep at No. 2 before Boban and Brooker earned the clinching win in the top spot by a 6-4 count. Koppelmans and Lin added an insurance win at No. 3, 6-4.
• Macpherson began singles action with a 7-5, 7-5 loss at No. 3 before Brooker picked up a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win in the top spot during his debut playing No. 1 singles in an NE10 match.
• With Saint Michael's clinging to a 2-1 lead, Boban, who is ranked 19th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region rankings, squared off with the 20th-ranked singles player at No. 2. Boban lost by the same score as Macpherson, 7-5, 7-5.
• Lundholm finished off a 7-5, 7-6 (9-7) win in the fourth position before Lin lost a 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) contest at No. 6, and the teams again stood tied.
• That left the match on the racquet of Koppelmans, who faced the same opponent he lost to on Sept. 20 by a 6-4, 6-1 count. The two again met at No. 5, but this time the rookie overcame a first-set loss in a tiebreaker to earn a 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 7-5 triumph, also rallying from down 5-3 and 40-0 in the third and deciding set. Koppelmans is now 5-2 this season in the fifth spot.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S MATCH

• Wednesday vs. Assumption University, 12 p.m.