North Andover, Mass. – The Le Moyne College men's tennis team suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday afternoon to Merrimack College, 6-3, in Northeast-10 Conference action at North Andover High School.

In doubles action, the Warriors jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the match. At the top spot, Miguel Belfort and Vince Bellino registered an 8-5 victory over sophomores James Gayvert (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) and Benjamin Spoor (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa), while Tayyab Sheikh and Thomas O'Brien posted an 8-3 win over redshirt junior Stephane Legris (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury/Adirondack C.C.) and sophomore Adam Celeta (Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) at third doubles. At second doubles, sophomores Jason Barton (Lima, Ohio/Shawnee) and Hallam Doney (Andover, Hampshire/Peter Symonds) improved to 3-0 as a duo with an 8-1 victory over Mikhail Belov and Nick Majewski.

Gayvert extended his winning streak to open the season to five by rallying for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Belfort, who was a first team all-conference selection last year. Spoor also pushed his season-opening win streak to five by defeating Sheikh in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. At second singles, Bellino was a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 winner over Barton, while Belov topped Doney, 6-1, 6-2, at fourth singles. At fifth singles, Majewski handed Legris his first dual-match loss as a Dolphin, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, while O'Brien posted a 6-3, 7-5 win over Celeta at sixth singles.

Le Moyne (4-1, 3-1 NE-10) opens the Spring season on Friday, February 20 against Roberts Wesleyan College at 6:00 p.m. at Gold's Gym.