Sanford and Shannon lead Ravens to fifth-straight Conference win

COLCHESTER, Vt. (April 10, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce men's tennis team extended its Conference winning streak to five games with a 7-2 victory over Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference men's tennis action this afternoon.

Seniors Ricky Sanford (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) and Art Shannon (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) led the way for the Ravens, as both posted wins in their doubles matches as well as two-set wins in their singles matches. Sanford got the Ravens out to a positive start, as he clinched an 8-3 win at #1 doubles with teammate Darko Minic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia). He closed out the match with a 6-3, 6-2 win at #3 singles over Saint Michael's senior Luke Hudak.

Shannon secured an 8-2 win at #2 doubles with partner Maciej Szpakowski (Cieszyn, Poland/Mattituck (N.Y.)) before clinching a 6-1, 6-1 win over sophomore Josh Holt at #5 singles. With the win at #5 singles, Shannon improves to 15-1. Szpakowski also notched a win in his singles match, defeating senior Cliff Rizzi 6-1, 6-3 at the #4 seed.

Senior Michael Hoffner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and sophomore Ryan Jones (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) also posted two-set wins at #2 and #6 singles, respectively.

Franklin Pierce (11-9, 6-1 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday, when it travels to Bryant College for a Northeast-10 Conference match at 1 p.m. Saint Michael's (2-6, 2-4 NE-10) travels to LeMoyne College for a Conference match at 11 a.m.

Franklin Pierce 7, Saint Michael's 2