Franklin Pierce Topples Saint Anselm, 8-1
Ravens clinch third-straight Conference win
MANCHESTER, N.H. (April 3, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce men's tennis team posted its third-straight Conference win with an 8-1 victory over Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference men's tennis action at the Carr Center this afternoon.
The Ravens got off to a positive start, sweeping the doubles portion of the match. Junior Darko Minic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) and senior Ricky Sanford (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) opened up the afternoon with an 8-3 win over Saint Anselm's Mike Besser and Bostjan Kolaric at the #1 doubles spot. Minic went on to post a three-set win at #1 singles, while Sanford recorded at two-set win at #3 singles.
Senior Art Shannon (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) and sophomoresMaciej Szpakowski (Cieszyn, Poland/Mattituck (N.Y.)) and Ryan Jones (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) also recorded wins in their singles and doubles matches. Szpakowski and Shannon teamed up for an 8-4 win at #2 doubles before clinching wins at #4 and #5 singles, respectively. Jones registered an 8-3 win at #3 doubles with senior Michael Hoffner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and went on to record an 8-1 win at #6 singles.
Franklin Pierce (8-7, 4-1 NE-10) returns to action tomorrow when it travels to Bloomsburg, Pa. to face Bloomsburg University, ranked No. 3 in the Northeast region, in a non-conference match at 2 p.m. Saint Anselm (2-4, 1-4 NE-10) next hosts American International College on Saturday in a Northeast-10 Conference match at 1 p.m.
Franklin Pierce 8, Saint Anselm 1
| Singles | Winner | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
| Darko Minic (FP) vs. Bostjan Kolaric (STA) | FP | 6-3 | 4-6 | 6-3 |
| Michael Hoffner (FP) vs.Mike Besserer (STA) | STA | 7-6 (7-4) | 6-0 | -- |
| Ricky Sanford (FP) vs. Ryan Schmidt (STA) | FP | 6-0 | 6-2 | -- |
| Maciej Szpakowski (FP) vs. Nathan Pasay (STA) | FP | 6-2 | 6-2 | -- |
| Art Shannon (FP) vs. Brian Griffin (STA) | FP | 8-1 | -- | -- |
| Ryan Jones (FP) vs.Mike Sheehan (STA) | FP | 8-1 | -- | -- |
| Doubles | Winner | Set |
| Sanford/Minic (FP) vs. Besserer/Kolaric (STA) | FP | 8-3 |
| Shannon/Szpakowski (FP) vs. Griffin/Pasay (STA) | FP | 8-4 |
| Hoffner/Jones (FP) vs. Schmidt/Sheehan (STA) | FP | 8-3 |