Bebarta Lifts Men’s Tennis To 5-4 Win Over Clark

WESTON, Mass. – Nolan Bebarta (Danville, Calif.) twice saw his pro set lead evaporate but kept his composure for a match-clinching three set win in the deciding match of a 5-4 win by the Regis (Mass.) men's tennis team over Clark, Monday night at the Regis Tennis Center.

Bebarta's win on the No. 3 court over Alex Hattenbach (Wilton, Conn.) didn't come without its challenges but he was able to prevail with the 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 win. Hattenbach delivered three straight points to take a 7-6 lead but Bebarta held serve and broke Hattenbach twice to earn the win for the Pride.

The match was the regular season finale for the Pride (12-5) who now set its sights on this Saturday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament where Regis enters as the North Division's top seed and will host Johnson & Wales (RI).

The narrow win was aided greatly by the Pride's 2-1 lead after doubles play. Bebarta was the key figure in Regis leading after doubles play, rallying with No. 2 doubles partner Johnny Pallotta (Bay Shore, N.Y.) to top the Cougar pair of Hattenbach and Jacob Malicky (South Egremont, Mass.).

Pallotta would put the Pride up 3-1 in singles after a 6-1, 6-0 win over Duncan Drapeau (Boothbay, Maine) but straight-set losses by Chris Harrow (North Reading, Pa.) and Luke Horton (Bass Harbor, Maine) at the one and two, respectively, evened the match. Malicky for Clark and Tim Miller (North Attleboro, Mass.) for Regis each handled their opponents to set the stage for Bebarta's match-clinching win, the only three-set singles contest of the evening.

Start time for the Pride's GNAC Semifinal is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Regis Tennis Center. Clark (3-11) plays its regular season finale on Wednesday, Apr. 25 at Springfield.

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