WORCESTER, Mass. (October 20, 2019) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team fought hard during their match at Holy Cross on Sunday, but ultimately was bested, 5-2.

The loss puts the Ravens at 3-4, while Holy Cross improves to 4-2.

The Ravens took the doubles point, by winning two out of the three matches. Senior Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) and sophomore Preston Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.) took down Matthew Slowinski and Will Kaiser, 6-2, in first doubles. At second doubles, junior Nkrumah Patrick (Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago) and freshman Alejandro Ortiz (Madrid, Spain) where overtaken by Will Chen and Alexander Ruenhorst, 6-2. Winning at third doubles were freshmen Joel Cladera (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) and Joshua Arnold (Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago), who bested Declan O'Flynn and Connor Nelson, 6-2, to give the Ravens the early lead.

In the singles, the Ravens fought hard in close matches throughout, with five out of six matches resulting in a third set. In first singles, Barak fell short of Chen, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5. Gordon took a fall against Kaiser at second singles, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Patrick was just short of Nelson, who won at third singles, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. At fourth singles, Ruenhorst just slid by Cladera, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Arnold was overtaken by Robert Hagan at fifth singles, 6-2, 6-3. Finally, the Ravens got their second point at sixth singles, when Ortiz beat O'Flynn, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1.

For now, Sunday's match is the final contest on the fall portion of the schedule for the Ravens. It remains to be seen if a match against Post which was postponed on Oct. 16 will be rescheduled in the fall or the spring.

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).