HARTFORD, CONN. (April 9, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce men's tennis team posted its fourth-straight Northeast-10 Conference win, blanking American International College, 9-0, in men's tennis action at the Hartford Tennis Club this afternoon.

Senior Art Shannon (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) didn't lose one set all afternoon, as he registered an 8-0 shutout win with and sophomore Maciej Szpakowski (Cieszyn, Poland/Mattituck (N.Y.)) over AIC's Rippi Rekhi and Gary Gamaldo at #2 doubles. Shannon improved to 14-1 at #5 singles, as he went on to record a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Peter Bisson.

Senior Ricky Sanford (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) and junior Darko Minic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) also posted wins in both their singles and doubles matches. Sanford and Minic opened up the match with an 8-1 win over AIC's Cesar Juca and Ricky Draleau at #1 doubles. Sanford went on to record a 6-0, 6-0 win over Rekhi, while Minic posted a 6-3, 6-3 win over Juca at the #1 seed.

Senior Michael Hoffner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and junior J.P. Morgan (Hampton Bays, N.Y./Hampton Bays) also posted two-set wins in their singles matches to complete the sweep of the Yellow Jackets.

Franklin Pierce (10-9, 5-1 NE-10) returns to the courts on Thursday when it travels to Saint Michael's College for a Northeast-10 Conference match at 3 p.m. American International (0-5, 0-4 NE-10) travels to Pace on Thursday for a Conference matchup at a time to be determined.

Franklin Pierce 9, American International 0