Bellio claimed wins at No. 1 singles and doubles to lead the Skyhawks to the NE10 win.

Bellio leads Skyhawks with wins at No. 1 singles and doubles

COLCHESTER, Vt. (March 25, 2017) – Stonehill College opened its Northeast-10 Conference men's tennis season with an 8-1 victory over Saint Michael's College inside the Tarrant Recreation Center this afternoon.

Junior Thomas Bellio (Saint Joseph, Michigan/Saint Joseph) led five double-winners for Stonehill by notching wins at No. 1 singles and doubles. He combined with freshman Manu Ravichandrakumar (Chennai, India/Saddlebrook Prep (Fla.)) to lead a sweep of the three doubles matches with an 8-3 decision. Bellio followed that up with a 7-5, 6-4 singles victory against Saint Michael's senior Ben Lambert (Milford, New Hampshire/Milford), while Ravichandrakumar posted a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles against senior Patrick Dietz (Prospect, Connecticut/Woodland Regional).

Junior Jeffrey Gagnon (Providence, Rhode Island/The Wheeler School) clinched the deciding point for Stonehill with his 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles against senior Hayden Steward (Hamilton, Massachusetts/Pingree School). Gagnon also teamed up with sophomore Dimitri Vlassov (Marblehead, Massachusetts/Marblehead) for an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles. Vlassov was also among the Skyhawks double-winners with his victory at No. 6 singles.

Freshman Matt Mosher (Fairfield, Connecticut/Fairfield Warde) earned Saint Michael's point by edging Stonehill freshman Aaron Diamond (Moultonborough, New Hampshire/Moultonborough Academy) 9-8 (7-4) at No. 5 singles.

Stonehill (3-4, 1-0 NE10) is back in action on Wednesday when it faces Merrimack College, ranked sixth in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Regional rankings, at Trull Brook Golf & Tennis Club in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, for an NE10 dual match at 1 p.m. The Skyhawks next home match is Saturday, April 1, when they host Bentley University for their Purple & White match at 1 p.m. Saint Michael's (1-8, 0-3 NE10) hosts regionally-ranked Adelphi University tomorrow at 10 a.m.

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