BOSTON – With the match knotted up at 4-4, senior Eric Berry-Sandelin (South Portland, Maine) took the 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win at third singles to seal the victory for the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a 5-4 Little East Conference win over the UMass Boston Beacons Saturday afternoon at the B.C. High Tennis Courts.

            With the win, the Huskies – the 2014 and 2015 Little East Conference Champions – improve their record to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Little East.  UMass Boston falls to 2-8 overall an 0-1 in the LEC.

            Southern Maine trailed the Beacons 2-1 after the doubles points played out.  UMass Boston won the first two points of the match earning wins at second an third doubles before senior Tyler Adams (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and junior Kyle Curley (Gorham, Maine) earned an 8-4 win at first doubles over freshman Josh Bhasin (Tulsa, Okla.) and junior Jack Wang (Suzhou, China).

            Adams continued his strong play on the court and pulled the Huskies even at 2-2 quickly winning 6-0, 6-0 at first singles defeating UMB's Austin DeLasse (Mexico City, Mexico).  Adams' win over Delasse marked his 31st consecutive singles victory dating back through the 2014 season.  Adams is now 32-2 overall as a member of the Huskies.

            A Beacons win at sixth singles gave UMB a 3-2 lead before Curley tied the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win at second singles over Beacons' sophomore Adhirath Bhatotia (New Delhi, India). A win at fourth singles from sophomore Samuel Holland (Falmouth, Maine) made it 4-3 in favor of USM.  Holland's 6-2, 6-2 win over UMB senior Vlad Leopard (Carnikava, Latvia) gave the Huskies their first lead of the game. 

            UMB continued to play strong and sophomore Sanshurt Sharma (Mumbai, India) made it a 4-4 game gutting out a 5-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at fifth singles over USM senior Sebastian Taylor (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little), setting up the pivotal third singles match. Tied at 6-4, 4-6 and trailing 2-1 in the third frame to Wang, Berry-Sandelin came through for his team winning the final five points for the 6-2 win.

Southern Maine returns to action on Sunday (12:00 p.m.) and will host Castleton in a non-conference match. UMass Boston travels to Rhode Island College on Monday (3:00 p.m.) for an Litlte East Conference match.

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