FLUSHING, N.Y. (September 16, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team opened its 2019-20 season over the weekend, as it had several members in action at the ITA East Regional Championship, held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The doubles team of junior Nkrumah Patrick (Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago) and freshman Alejandro Ortiz (Madrid, Spain) led the way for the Ravens, as they advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Patrick and Ortiz opened play with a first-round bye in the 52-team field. In the second round, they locked horns with District of Columbia sophomore Maksim Bahdanovich and freshman Enzo Alavaski, with the Franklin Pierce duo pulling out an 8-6 victory. Things were equally tight in the third round, where Patrick and Ortiz had to gut out a 9-7 win over a pair of Penmen twins in Southern New Hampshire seniors Bas and Willem van Biezen, who were the tournament's top overall seed.

The run for Patrick and Ortiz finally came to an end in the quarterfinal round. The pair dropped an 8-1 decision to the St. Thomas Aquinas pair of sophomore Odysseas Papaioannou and junior Roberto Chong, the latter a former Raven who played as Patrick's doubles partner a year ago.

Elsewhere in the doubles draw, Franklin Pierce entered a team of sophomore Preston Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.) and senior Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel), but they suffered a 9-7 defeat in the first round against Saint Michael's sophomores Michael Rosen and Constantin Krogh.

Moving to singles action, both Barak and Gordon were present in the main draw. Barak advanced out of the first round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Marcos Lee of Dominican (N.Y.), before running into Willem van Biezen and suffering a 6-2, 6-4 defeat. Meanwhile, Gordon was ousted in the first round by the 13^th overall seed, junior Tobias Lentz of Concordia (N.Y.).

Both Barak and Gordon had to go through the qualifying bracket just to make their way into the main draw. Barak notched an 8-6 win over Adelphi junior David Leader in the first qualifying round before advancing to the main draw via walkover after Daemen sophomore Patrick O'Brien withdrew due to injury. Meanwhile, Gordon had a first-round bye and then chalked up an 8-6 win over Daemen senior Fabian Wilde to move on to the main draw.

Both Patrick and Ortiz were entered in the singles qualifying draw as well. Patrick notched a first-round win over Assumption sophomore Brandon Size, 8-1, before falling in the second round, 8-5, against Lee. For Ortiz, it was a first-round loss to Saint Michael's freshman Connor Scott, 9-7.

The Ravens return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 25, when they travel to Eastern Nazarene for their first team match of the year at 3:30 p.m. in Quincy, Mass.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce tennis apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://www.shopfpuravens.com).