SPARKILL, N.Y. (October 18, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team was shutout on the road on Friday afternoon, 7-0, at St. Thomas Aquinas, in the team's penultimate match of the fall season.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-3, while St. Thomas Aquinas improves to 3-0.

St. Thomas Aquinas opened play by taking victories in all three doubles matches to claim the doubles point. The most competitive of the three came at first doubles, where senior Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) and sophomore Preston Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.) forced a tiebreak against junior Roberto Chong and sophomore Odysseas Papaioannou, before the latter pair pulled out a 7-6 (4) victory.

St. Thomas Aquinas also took wins in all six singles matches, though Franklin Pierce forced a third set in three of them. At third singles, junior Nkrumah Patrick (Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago) hung tight with Chong before suffering a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 defeat.

Both fifth and sixth singles used 10-point tiebreakers instead of the full third set, as the team match had already been decided. At fifth singles, senior Tim Fleerkamp rallied past freshman Joshua Arnold (Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago), 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8). Sixth singles was even tighter, with junior Paul Voigt pulling out a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) win over freshman Paul McLellan (Nairobi, Kenya).

The Ravens return to the court on Sunday, Oct. 20, when they travel to Holy Cross to wrap up the fall portion of their season with a non-conference match at noon in Worcester, 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).