NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Northeast-10 rivals Bentley and Merrimack went toe-to-toe Tuesday afternoon, but the host Warriors came away with a 5-4 victory to snap the Falcons' four-match winning streak to begin the season.

Merrimack won two of three doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead. A split of the six singles matches was enough for them to hang on for the victory.

In doubles, Bentley's No. 2 team of Rachel Hui (Hong Kong) and Evann Welty (Wayzata, Minn./Mound Westonka) won their fifth straight match. This time they defeated Danielle Dunn and Cassie Restrepo by an 8-4 score.

The No. 1 match was tightly contested between Bentley's Hannah Fabianski (Pawcatuck, Conn./Stonington) and Katie Brandow (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) and Merrimack's Mana Seifaei and Mia Briggs, but Merrimack's team squeaked out a 9-7 decision.

In singles, the Falcons won the No.3, 4 and 6 matches. Hui and Welty both improved to 4-0 on the season in singles with wins in their respective flights. Hui defeated Restrepo 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 and Welty topped Lauren Persson 6-3, 6-3. Senior Alexia Petruzziello (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) moved to 3-0 in singles with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Mackenzie Blair in the No. 6 match.

Now 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in NE10 matches, Bentley will be back on the courts on Saturday when they host New Haven.