SYRACUSE, N.Y. (April 30, 2019) – The fifth-seeded Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team was defeated in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Tuesday afternoon at fourth-seeded Le Moyne, 4-1. The match was held at Skytop Tennis Courts, on the campus of Syracuse University.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce concludes its season at 12-9, while Le Moyne improves to 13-8 and advances to face top-seeded Southern New Hampshire in Thursday's semifinal round.

Le Moyne took two of the three doubles matches to open play by taking the doubles point. Franklin Pierce picked up a win at second doubles, where freshman Preston Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.) and junior Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) rolled to a 6-2 win over Le Moyne senior Tyler Underwood and freshman Gerardo Wibmer.

The Ravens were also highly competitive in the other two matches, but could not swing either in their favor to take the point. At first doubles, sophomores Roberto Chong (Puigpunyent, Spain) and Nkrumah Patrick (Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago) were edged by sophomore Tom Jarry and junior Philip Blythe, 6-4. At third doubles, seniors Andres Hernandez and Xavier Graells slipped past seniors James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.), 7-5.

Franklin Pierce picked up its lone point of the day at first singles. Fresh off his selection to the All-NE10 Second Team, Chong notched a straight-set, 6-4, 6-4 win over Jarry.

The most competitive match of the day came at fourth singles. Patrick took the first set, but Graells rallied back for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win.

At second singles, it was Blythe over Bisazza, 6-1, 6-0. At sixth singles, it was graduate student Sven Gopfrich over Schadt, 7-5, 6-0.

Per Conference rule, third and fifth singles went unfinished after the team match was decided. Le Moyne had taken the first set in each before play concluded. 

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.fpuravens.com/store).