WOBURN, Mass. – In a battle of Northeast-10 unbeatens, Merrimack came away with a 5-4 win over the Bentley men's tennis team on Thursday afternoon at the Woburn Racquet Club.

Both teams came into the match unbeaten in the NE-10 at 9-0, and the win means Merrimack clinches the regular season title for a second straight season. The defeat snaps Bentley's six match winning streak.

The Falcons won the first-flight doubles match as senior Zach Tuckman (Kinnelon, N.J./Morristown Beard School) and junior Rodrigo Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Chapel School) beat Max Eppley and Sean Pahler 9-7. The Warriors though won the second and third-flight matches to lead 2-1 heading into singles.

The teams split the six singles matches, but it wasn't enough for Bentley to overcome its deficit.

Junior Lucas Wever (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Chapel School) claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win over Chris Barnhart in No. 1 singles, senior Alec Spycher (Sarasota, Fla./Saint Stephens Episcopal) bested Pahler 6-3, 6-3 in No. 5 singles and sophomore Andrew Waddington (Granby, Conn./Granby Memorial) topped Chris Toegemann 7-6, 6-2 in No. 6 singles.

The Falcons close out the regular season at Southern New Hampshire on Saturday at noon.

Box Score

At Woburn, Mass.

Merrimack 5, Bentley 4

Doubles

1. Zach Tuckman/Rodrigo Ribeiro (BEN) def. Sean Pahler/Max Eppley (MER) 9-7

2. Vince Bellino/Chris Barnhart (MER) def. Alec Spycher/Raghav Tanna (BEN) 9-8

3. Petar Golijanin/Chris Toegemann (MER) def. Andrew Waddington/Lucas Wever (BEN) 8-3

Singles

1. Lucas Wever (BEN) def. Chris Barnhart (MER) 6-4, 6-4

2. Max Eppley (MER) def. Zach Tuckman (BEN) 6-1, 6-1

3. Petar Golijanin (MER) def. Rodrigo Ribeiro (BEN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

4. Vince Bellino (MER) def. Jimmy Rindo (BEN) 6-4, 6-7, 6-1

5. Alec Spycher (BEN) def. Sean Pahler (MER) 6-3, 6-3

6. Andrew Waddington (BEN) def. Chris Toegemann (MER) 7-6, 6-2

Match Notes:

Merrimack 14-7, 10-0 NE-10

Bentley 13-5, 9-1 NE-10