PURCHASE, N.Y. – The 2023 Skyline Conference regular season champs begin postseason play on Thursday, as the No. 1 Manhattanville College men's tennis team take on the No. 5 United States Merchant Marine Academy in the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament semifinals. The Valiants will play host to the Mariners after securing a perfect 7-0 record in conference matchups. 
 
   
How We Got Here:
 
The Valiants earned their third-straight regular season title this past weekend, claiming the top seed for the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament. They completed the season with a 9-0 win over Sarah Lawrence this past weekend to improve to 8-4 overall and 7-0 in conference play. James Hourihan (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) and Weston Goodwin (Freeport, Maine/Freeport) would get an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles, while Luis Gonzalez (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon), Dylan Crowley (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial), Max Moeller (Crestwood, N.Y./Iona Prep), and Shiel Loganadan (New York, N.Y./Mary McDowell Friends) would get 8-0 sweeps at No. 2 and 3 doubles. Hourihan, Goodwin, Loganadan, and Moeller would all add wins in their singles flights as Jaime Peredo (Uruapan, México/Instituto Morelos) and Vincent Libertatore would get 6-0, 6-0 victories at No. 4 and 5 singles. 
 
Merchant Marine earned the No. 5 seed in the Skyline Championship with a 3-4 conference and drew a first-round matchup with No. 4 Purchase College. The Mariners punched their ticket to the semifinals with a 5-4 victory over the Panthers on Tuesday afternoon. USMMA took one of three doubles flights before winning the final four singles points to take the match. Gabby Eitkis and Brandon Bomboy earned the win at No. 3 doubles with a 8-2 score. Connor McQuade would get by easy with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles before the No. 4-6 positions would fight tough battles to come out victorious. Eitkis picked up the 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) win at No. 4 singles while Demme Kraut would get a 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 victory at No. 5 singles. Bomboy would close out the contest with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 tiebreaking win at No. 6 singles to give the Mariners a shot at the Skyline title. 
 
Last Time Out:
 
Manhattanville played host to the Mariners on Mar. 28 in a contest that saw the Valiants earn a 7-2 victory taking two of the three doubles matches and going 5-1 in singles play. The full scores from the match are below:
 
Doubles

• Hourihan/ Weston def. by Novak/McQuade, 5-8
• Crowley/Moeller def. Chairs/Bomboy, 8-6
• Loganadan/Peredo def. Eitkis/Bateman, 8-2  

Singles

• Hourihan def. Novak, 6-2, 6-3
• Goodwin def. McQuade, 6-7 (5-10), 6-4, 11-9
• Loganadan def. Chairs, 6-3, 6-3
• Crowley def. Eitkis, 6-1, 7-5
• Peredo def. Bomboy, 6-2, 7-5
• Guzman def. by Bateman, 4-6, 3-6  

History:
 
The Valiants are 14-13 all-time over USMMA since the inaugural meeting back in 1983 where they defeated the Mariners, 6-3. Manhattanville is on a three-match win streak against Merchant Marine, spanning from Apr. 2022 to Mar. 2023 including a 5-0 win in last year's Skyline Semifinals. In the last 10 meetings, the Valiants hold a 7-3 advantage where they have won four matches on their home courts. 

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