EASTON, Mass. (April 4, 2017) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team was edged on Thursday afternoon, 5-4, on the road in Northeast-10 Conference play at Stonehill.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 2-11 (1-4 NE10), while Stonehill improves to 5-6 (3-2 NE10).

Things started well for the Ravens on Thursday, as Franklin Pierce swept the three doubles matches to jump to a 3-0 lead. At first singles, sophomore James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.) put together an 8-5 win over Stonehill juniors Thomas Bellio and Nikolay Lisichenok. It was an identical, 8-5 score at second doubles, where freshman Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) and sophomore Marcus Lawrence (Acton, Mass.) bettered freshman Manu Ravichandrakumar and junior Tom Buckley. Lastly, at third doubles, freshman Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.) and junior Olivier Viel (Quebec City, Quebec) squeaked past junior Jeffrey Gagnon and sophomore Dimitri Vlassov, 8-6.

Stonehill began its comeback at first singles, the only of the six singles matches which would not go three sets, as Bellio downed Bisazza, 6-2, 6-3. The remaining singles contests were all hotly contested at the Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex. Stonehill cut the gap to 3-2, as Buckley scored a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 win over Lawrence at fourth singles. Lisichenok would make it a 3-3 match, as he pushed past Barak at second singles, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Franklin Pierce pushed itself to the brink of victory, with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win from Toombs at fifth singles over Gagnon, but then Ravichandrakumar leveled things at 4-4 with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win at third singles against Schadt.

It all came down to the sixth singles match, which was the last to finish. Viel had taken the first set from Vlassov, 6-2, but the latter bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second set. The third set was tight, with Vlassov ultimately prevailing with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win to deliver the match to Stonehill by a 5-4 final.

The Ravens return to the court on Saturday, April 8, when they return home to host Merrimack in an NE10 contest at noon in Rindge.

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).