POMFRET, Conn. (March 11, 2017) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team was defeated on Saturday, 7-2, in a non-conference match at Nichols, held at the Pomfret School.

With the loss, the Ravens fall to 1-4 to open the spring portion of their schedule, while Nichols improves to 2-2.

Nichols took all three doubles matches to open up a 3-0 lead on Saturday morning. The most competitive of the three contests came at third doubles, where Nichols sophomores Igor Markowski and Aidan Stuart posted an 8-5 win over Franklin Pierce junior Olivier Viel (Quebec City, Quebec) and freshman Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.).

Singles play was much more tightly-contested, though Nichols picked up wins in four of the six matches to collect the 7-2 victory. The top two singles matches required tiebreaker third sets, with each squad winning once. First singles was the most hotly-contested match of the entire day, as Franklin Pierce sophomore James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) locked horns with Nichols sophomore Blake Norton. Norton took the first set, 6-4, while Bisazza answered with a 7-5 win in the second set. The tiebreaker set went beyond the scheduled distance, with Norton ultimately claiming a 6-4, 5-7, 14-12 victory.

Meanwhile, freshman Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) was kept plenty busy at second doubles, tussling with Nichols freshman Brandon Howard. Howard claimed the first set, 6-4, before Barak bounced back with a 7-6 (7) victory in the second set. This time, the tiebreaker set went Franklin Pierce's way, with Barak pulling out the 4-6, 7-6 (7), 10-7 win.

Franklin Pierce's other point on the day came at sixth singles, in the pro-set format, after the team match had already been decided. Toombs tallied an 8-5 win over Nichols freshman Max Karger.

The Ravens return to the court on Tuesday, March 14, when they travel to Warner for a non-conference match at noon in Winter Haven, 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).