#2 Salem State to Face #3 Rhode Island College in Little East Men's Tennis Semifinals

SALEM, Mass. -- Salem State, this year's No. 2 seed, will begin its quest to defend its Little East Tournament Championship when the Vikings square off against No.3 seed Rhode Island College on Friday, May 3 at the Weymouth Club in Weymouth, Mass. in a Little East Tournamnet Semifinal match at 1:00 PM. No. 1 seed UMass Boston will face  No.4 UMass Dartmouth in the other semifinal. Both winners will advance to the championship, which will take place on Saturday, May 4 at 1:00 pm and will be hosted by the Weymouth Club.

Salem State finished the year 8-4 and 6-1 in conference and is seeking its third tournament  championship overall. The Vikings are led by defending Little East Player and Rookie of the Year, sophomore Andrew Muttiah (Columbo, Sri Lanka) who posted a 7-3 mark at No. 1 singles.  Junior Mitchell Dyer (N. Attleboro, Mass.) led Salem State with eight singles victories, splitting time at third and fourth singles.

Team captain Chen Chen (Lawrence, Mass.) enjoyed another solid campaign, posting seven singles victories, including a 5-0 record at No. 4 singles. Roni Bazile (Brockton, Mass.) posted the league's highest winning percentage at No. 2 singles with a 7-2 mark. Noah Hodgkins (Winthrop, Mass.) recorded a 5-3 mark at fifth singles, while Johnson Ngandjui (Lynn, Mass.) and Moses Ba (Lynn, Mass.) combined to compile six wins at No. 6 singles for the Vikings.

Rhode Island finished the year 10-4 and 5-2 in the Little East. They are led by Alan Esposito (Clinton, Conn.), who tied for the league-high in wins, with an 11-2 record at No. 1 singles. Matt Gambardella (West Warwick, R.I.) and Ethan Hoy (West Warwick, R.I.) combined for a 17 wins at third and fouth singles.

The Vikings defeated the Anchormen 6-3 in their last meeting in April.