SALEM, Mass. – Junior Landon Weaver (Bowdoinham, Maine/Mt. Ararat) and freshman Charlie Bitar (Perry, Maine/Calais) helped the University of Southern Maine men's tennis team earn their first Little East Conference win of the season on Thursday afternoon in a 5-4 defeat of the Salem State University Vikings. Weaver and Bitar earned an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles over Michael Muttiah and Josh Gruber to give the Huskies their first point of the match before the Vikings took the No. 1 and No. 2 matches. Each player also picked up a singles win with Weaver defeating Kevin Merino-Rivas 6-2, 6-4 and Bitar defeating Muttiah in three sets 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Weaver now has four singles wins on the season while Bitar earned his second win.
 
Seniors Zach Desmarais (St. Cyrille, Quebec) and Zac Howe (Arundel, Maine/Thornton Academy) also won singles matches. Desmarais defeated Lachlan Hall 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 3 slot for his second singles win of the season. Howe earned his third singles victory of the year with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Gruber at No. 4 singles.
 
The win snapped a five-match losing streak for the Huskies in the series dating back to April 18, 2017. The Huskies are now 1-2 in conference play and in fifth place in the standings with three conference matches remaining.
 
The Records:
Southern Maine: 2-5 (1-2 LEC)
Salem State: 2-3 (1-3 LEC)
 
Doubles Results:
1. Quentin Wilkins / Mark Wood (SSU) def. Jaden Parker / Zac Howe (USM), 8-3
2. Kevin Merino-Rivas / Lachlan Hall (SSU) def. Azam Jiwa / Zach Desmarais (USM), 8-7 (7-2)
3. Landon Weaver / Charlie Bitar (USM) def. Michael Muttiah / Josh Gruber (SSU), 8-4
 
Singles Results:
1. Quentin Wilkins (SSU) def. Jaden Parker (USM), 6-4, 6-1
2. Mark Wood (SSU) def. Azam Jiwa (USM), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
3. Zach Desmarais (USM) def. Lachlan Hall (SSU), 6-3, 6-1
4. Zac Howe (USM) def. Josh Gruber (SSU), 6-2, 6-3
5. Landon Weaver (USM) def. Kevin Merino-Rivas (SSU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Charlie Bitar (USM) def. Michael Muttiah (SSU), 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
 
Up Next:
The Huskies will take on Vermont State University Castleton on Saturday at noon in Vermont. The Huskies would clinch a spot in the upcoming LEC Championship Tournament with a win on Saturday.