ORLANDO, Fla. (March 14, 2016) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team split a pair of matches in the Sunshine State on Monday, as the Ravens defeated Onondaga Community College, 8-1, and fell to Bethel, 9-0, in non-conference, neutral-site play.

With the split, Franklin Pierce's record now stands at 1-8. Onondaga CC opened its season at 0-1 with the loss, while Bethel improved to 10-3.

Against Onondaga, the Ravens picked up wins in every match except fifth singles. The most-dominant of the singles performances came at second singles, from freshman Marcus Lawrence (Acton, Mass.), who swept through sophomore Jon VanKouwenberg, 6-0, 6-0. Meanwhile, at first singles, freshman James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) dispatched freshman Sacha Borel, 6-4, 6-1.

The Ravens rounded out singles play with three more wins, as freshman Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.) bettered freshman Ryan Charlebois at third singles (6-1, 6-0); senior Drew Bennett (Rindge, N.H.) defeated sophomore Darren Pikul at fourth singles (6-2, 6-1); and sophomore Logan Sherwood (Merrimac, Mass.) put away freshman Michael Sill at sixth singles (6-3, 6-2).

Franklin Pierce also swept three doubles matches from Onondaga. The most hotly-contested of the three came at first doubles, where Schadt and Lawrence needed a tiebreaker to pull out a 9-8 (1) win over Borel and VanKouwenberg. At second doubles, sophomore Olivier Viel (Quebec City, Quebec) and freshman Joshua Singer (Toms River, N.J.) squeaked past Charlebois and Pikul, 9-7, while Sherwood and freshman Dan Longtin (Eliot, Maine) notched an 8-4 win at third doubles over Day and Sill.

Meanwhile, against Bethel, Bisazza put up the biggest fight for the Ravens in singles play, though he ultimately succumbed to junior Matt Schull, 7-6 (2), 6-1, at first singles. Bisazza also gave the Royals a scare at first doubles, where he and Lawrence put up a fight before dropping an 8-5 decision to Schull and senior Luke Palmquist.

In all, Bethel had five players who were victorious in both singles and doubles play on Monday. Schull was a winner at both first singles and first doubles, while junior Kolin Kiekhofer picked up wins at both second singles and second doubles.

The Ravens return to the court on Tuesday, March 15, as they square off with Western New England in a non-conference, neutral-site contest in Orlando, Fla.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce tennis apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).