Ravens defeat Stonehill and Bryant, 5-3, to advance to final round

SHREWSBURY, MASS. (April 26, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce men's tennis team is headed to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament finals for the first time in program history, as it defeated Bryant College, 5-3 in the Conference semifinal this afternoon at the Shrewsbury Racquet Club.

The win avenges last season's tournament loss to Bryant, as the Ravens were ousted 5-3 in the Conference quarterfinal in 2002. The Ravens were also hungry for a win against Bryant after suffering just their second Conference loss to the Bulldogs earlier in the regular season. Before facing the Bulldogs, Franklin Pierce defeated sixth-seeded Stonehill, 5-3, in the quarterfinal round.

The Ravens got off to a rocky start against Stonehill, dropping two doubles matches at the #1 and #3 seeds to give the Chieftains the advantage heading into the singles portion of the match. Senior Art Shannon (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) and sophomore Maciej Szpakowski (Cieszyn, Poland/Mattituck (N.Y.)) came through, however, helping the Ravens clinch the win at the #2 spot with an 8-6 victory over Stonehill juniors Brandan Towers and Adam Wehrenberg.

Shannon easily defeated sophomore Kevin Charland, 6-3, 6-3 at the #5 singles spot. Szpakowski also picked up a win in his singles match, but had to battle through three sets with junior Pat Blomburg to seal the win at #4 singles.

Also posting wins in their singles matches were seniors Michael Hoffner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and Ricky Sanford (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) who posted two-set victories at #2 and #3 singles, respectively.

In the semifinal match against Bryant, the Ravens fell behind early, with the lone doubles win coming from Hoffner and sophomore Ryan Jones (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) at the #3 doubles spot. Jones and Hoffner defeated sophomores T.J. Euley and Jesse Thompson, 8-6, to cut the Bulldog lead in half.

The Ravens made a strong comeback in the singles portion of the match, securing four out of five matches played. Junior Darko Minic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) scored a key 6-3, 6-3 win against junior Jonathan Peilikier at the #1 singles seed to lead the charge. Hoffner posted his second win of the afternoon, defeating Antonio Valero 6-1, 6-1 at #2 singles. Shannon also recorded a two-set win, extending his singles winning streak to 17 games.

Franklin Pierce next faces top-seeded Assumption College in the Conference finals tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Worcester, Mass. Assumption College is ranked third in the East Region and #34 in the national rankings. While the Ravens will be challenging for the first Conference title, the Greyhounds will be seeking their sixth-straight NE-10 Championship.

Northeast-10 Conference Semifinal
Franklin Pierce 5, Stonehill 3

 Northeast-10 Conference Semifinal
Franklin Pierce 5, Bryant 3