Ravens complete trip to Philadelphia on Sunday

PHILADELPHIA (September 19, 2015) – A second round singles win in the 'A' flight by freshman James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) highlighted play for the Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team on Saturday at the first day of the USTA/ITA East Region Championships, hosted by University of the Sciences. In all, Franklin Pierce has seven athletes competing in singles play and is fielding three doubles teams at the event.

Bisazza was the lone Raven to take the court in 'A' flight singles play on Saturday. Bisazza received a bye to the second round, where he was matched up against Chestnut Hill freshman Adam Gavin, who had also been advanced without needing to play in the first round. Bisazza rolled to a 6-2 win in the first set, though the second set needed a tiebreak, with Bisazza ultimately pulling out the straight-set, 6-2, 7-6 (3) win. Second-round play at the event was not completed on Saturday, so Bisazza's third-round opponent on Sunday is not known.

Bisazza also teamed with freshman Marcus Lawrence (Acton, Mass.) to field a doubles pair in 'A' flight play at the ITAs. The duo suffered an 8-3 defeat in first-round play at the hands of junior Ryan Frankel and sophomore Sharvill Nawghre from Queens (N.Y.).

In 'B' flight singles play, which takes place in the pro-set format, Franklin Pierce has six players scheduled to compete in Philadelphia, though only two completed their matches on Saturday. In the play-in round, sophomore Olivier Viel (Quebec City, Quebec) fell to Stonehill sophomore Tom Buckley, 8-2. Buckley made it 2-for-2 against the Ravens, as he advanced to knock out freshman Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.), 8-3, in the first round.

The Ravens also fielded a pair of 'B' flight doubles teams, each of which suffered first-round losses on Saturday. Again, Stonehill proved to be a problem, as Viel and Schadt suffered an 8-1 loss to Skyhawk freshman Dimitri Vlassov and sophomore Nikolay Lisichenok. Meanwhile, sophomore Logan Sherwood (Merrimac, Mass.) and freshman Joshua Singer (Toms River, N.J.) dropped an 8-3 decision to Assumption juniors Casey Hodor and Tom Knight.

When 'B' flight singles play continues on Sunday, Franklin Pierce will have four players still scheduled to compete in the first round. Singer will meet USciences sophomore Bill Bentley, freshman Dan Longtin (Eliot, Maine) will square off with Philadelphia Univ. freshman John Perfetti, Sherwood will faceoff with Caldwell junior Andrej Bozovic, and Lawrence will take on Merrimack freshman Alex Slobin.

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' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).