No. 6 Franklin Pierce Escapes No. 9 Bentley, 5-4
Hoffner clinches three set win at #2 singles to lift Ravens past Falcons
RINDGE, N.H. (April 17, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce men's tennis team, ranked No. 6 in the Northeast region, recorded a 5-4 win over No. 9-ranked Bentley College in Northeast-10 Conference men's tennis action this afternoon. The win marks the team's third victory over regionally ranked opponents.
The Ravens opened up the afternoon with a clean sweep of the doubles portion of the match. Senior Ricky Sanford (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) and Darko Minic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia), the No. 3-ranked doubles team in the region, got the Ravens off to a good start with an 8-6 win over Ivan Eskildsen and senior Mike Luchini at the #1 seed.
SeniorArt Shannon (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) and sophomore Maciej Szpakowski (Cieszyn, Poland/Mattituck (N.Y.)) followed suit with a win in their doubles match, defeating senior Kevan Riley and Keenan Dalal 8-5 at the #2 spot. Senior Michael Hoffner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and sophomore Ryan Jones (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) rounded out the doubles matches with an 8-4 victory at the #3 seed.
The Falcons battled back in the singles portion of the match, clinching two-set wins at the #1, #3, #4 and #6 singles seeds to take the lead. Shannon evened the score 4-4 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Bentley's Gary Gilgur, so it came down to the #2 singles match to decide the winner of the contest.
Luchini took the early lead, defeating Hoffner 6-1 in the first set. Hoffner took the second set with a 6-1 win, and sealed the Franklin Pierce victory with a 6-3 win in the third.
Franklin Pierce (13-10, 8-2 NE-10) returns to action tomorrow when it hosts LeMoyne College in a Northeast-10 Conference match at 1 p.m. Bentley (9-5, 7-2 NE-10) next travels to American International College on Wednesday, April 23, for a Conference match at 1 p.m.
Franklin Pierce 5, Bentley 4
| Singles | Winner | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
| Darko Minic (FP) vs. Ivan Eskildsen (BC) | BC | 6-1 | 6-4 | -- |
| Michael Hoffner (FP) vs. Mike Luchini (BC) | FP | 1-6 | 6-1 | 6-3 |
| Ricky Sanford (FP) vs. Kevan Riley (BC) | BC | 6-3 | 6-4 | -- |
| Maciej Szpakowski (FP) vs. Keenan Dalal (BC) | BC | 6-2 | 6-3 | -- |
| Art Shannon (FP) vs. Gary Gilgur (BC) | FP | 6-1 | 6-1 | -- |
| Ryan Jones (FP) vs. Greg Ranieri (BC) | BC | 6-3 | -- | -- |
| Doubles | Winner | Set |
| Sanford/Minic (FP) vs. Eskildsen/Luchini (BC) | FP | 8-6 |
| Shannon/Szpakowski (FP) vs. Riley/Dalal (BC) | FP | 8-5 |
| Hoffner/Jones (FP) vs. Gilgur/Drew Bryson (BC) | FP | 8-4 |