SYOSSET, N.Y. – The LIU men's tennis team beat Sacred Heart at home Friday, 6-1. The Sharks won the doubles points with wins in two of the three matches, and took five of the six singles matchups to beat the Pioneers, picking up their first ever Northeast Conference victory in the process. LIU is now 2-1 in dual meets this season.

"We played solid, effective tennis today," head coach Jan Griga said. "The guys brought great energy right from the get-go, which was key to our strong start in doubles. We did a good job of carrrying that momentum into singles, and were able to close out the match pretty convincingly once we were up a set on several courts. Overall, it was a solid perforrmance from the Sharks, and a great way to open our home campaign. It's back to work this week to prepare for our three-match weekend next week."
 
SHARK BITES

• The Sharks opened the match by winning the doubles point. Ben Brandherm and Danila Ishchanka beat their SHU opponents at No.1, 6-2, and Akhilendran Indrabalan and Philip Hilble clinched the doubles point with their win at No.3, 6-4.
• In singles, Alessandro D'Anna picked up the first win of the day for the Sharks, with a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Darius Eftekhar at No. 5, to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead.
• Danila Ishchanka picked up the second singles win of the day against the Pioneers, with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 2.
• Akhilendran Indrabalan cliched the match win for the Sharks, with his 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 4 singles.
• Brandherm defeated Matyas Vencim, 6-3, 7-5 in the No.1 singles spot, and Sergio Fernandez Romera picked up a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles as well.
• LIU is back in action next Friday, February 18, when they take on cross-county rivals Hofstra at 12 p.m.

LIU 6 – SHU 1

Doubles
1. Ben Brandherm/Danila Ishchanka (LIU) def. Matyas Vencl/Tyler Lowe (SHU) 6-2
2. Kevin Chao/Philip Lynch (SHU) def. Guilherme De Medeiros/Sergio Fernandez Romera (LIU) 7-5 3.
3. Akhilendran Indrabalan/Philip Hilble (LIU) def. Antoine Hernandez/Darius Eftekhar (SHU), 6-4

Singles:
1. Ben Brandherm (LIU) def. Matyas Vencl (SHU) 6-3, 7-5
2. Danila Ishchanka (LIU) def. Kevin Chao (SHU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Sergio Fernandez Romera (LIU) def. Antoine Hernandez (SHU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Akhilendran Indrabalan (LIU) def. Philip Lynch (SHU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Alessandro D'Anna (LIU) def. Darius Eftekhar (SHU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Ayman Khan (SHU) def. Guilherme De Medeiros (LIU) 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,2,4,6,1,3)