Golden Bears advance to second round to face Assumption in East Regional Championship

KUTZTOWN, Pa. (May 2, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce men's tennis team, ranked No. 6 in the East Region, dropped a 5-0 decision to Kutztown University, ranked No. 2 in the East Region, in the first round of the NCAA Division II men's tennis East Regional in Kutztown, Pa. this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce earned the seventh seed in the first round and was set to battle second-seeded Kutztown University for the second-straight year. The meeting would be the second between the two teams, as the Golden Bears posted a 5-1 win at the Kutztown Duels on March 29.

The Ravens had difficulty recovering from the doubles portion of the match, as Kutztown swept No. 1, 2 and 3 doubles to take a 3-0 lead heading into singles. Senior Ricky Sanford (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) and juniorDarko Minic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) fell to juniors Johannes Wingerter and Velmurugan Annamalai 8-5 at #1 doubles to lead off the afternoon.

Senior Art Shannon (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) and sophomore Maciej Szpakowski (Cieszyn, Poland/Mattituck (N.Y.)) also ran into some trouble in their doubles match, falling to freshman Radoslaw Hlubinski and sophomore Mukundan Nandakumar, 8-3, at the #2 seed.

The Golden Bears completed the sweep of the doubles portion with an 8-5 win at #3 doubles.

With Kutztown holding a 3-0 advantage, the Golden Bears would only need two wins at singles to advance to the second round against Assumption College. Wingerter and Hlubinski came through for the Golden Bears clinching two set wins at #3 and #5 singles to clinch the 5-0 win.

The Ravens earned their second consecutive bid to the Division II East Regional this season after posting a 14-10 finish overall, 9-2 in the Northeast-10 Conference regular season. The team closes out the 2003 season with a 16-12 overall mark.

Kutztown 5, Franklin Pierce 0