Greyhounds clinch sixth consecutive Conference title

WORCESTER, MASS. (April 27, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce men's tennis team, ranked sixth in the East Region, fell to top-seed Assumption College, ranked third in the East region, at the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament finals this afternoon. The Conference title is Assumption's sixth-straight.

Franklin Pierce earned its third-straight bid into the Tournament as the third-seeded team with a regular season record of 14-10, 9-2 in the Conference. The Ravens defeated sixth-seeded Stonehill College and went on to upset second-seeded Bryant College to advance to the Tournament finals for the first time in program history.

Franklin Pierce struggled early in the match with Assumption, dropping all three doubles matches to open up the afternoon. Junior Darko Minic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) and senior Ricky Sanford (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) put up a good fight against Assumption's Sean Kenney and Michael Goldman, but eventually fell 8-5 at the #1 seed.

With the Assumption sweeping the doubles portion of the match, the Greyhounds would only need to clinch two wins at singles to earn its sixth consecutive Conference title. Kenney won his second match of the afternoon, defeating Minic, 6-2, 6-0 at the #1 singles spot and Alex Madrigal clinched a 6-0, 6-0 shutout win over sophomore Ryan Jones (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) at the #5 seed to close out the match.

Franklin Pierce earned its second-straight NCAA tournament bid last week and will face Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pa. in the first round of the East Regional on Friday, May 2 at 2 p.m.

NORTHEAST-10 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Finals
Assumption 5, Franklin Pierce 0