MANCHESTER, N.H. (March 2, 2018) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team opened the Northeast-10 Conference portion of its season on Friday afternoon with an 8-1 win on the road at Saint Anselm.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 4-2 (1-0 NE10), while Saint Anselm falls to 0-4 (0-2 NE10).

The Ravens opened play on Friday by sweeping the three doubles points from the Hawks. First doubles was the most competitive of the three, with freshman Roberto Chong (Puigpunyent, Spain) and sophomore Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) picking up an 8-5 win over Saint Anselm seniors Eric Howes and Kyle Harris. At second singles, it was an 8-4 triumph for juniors James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.) over junior Daniel Kmetz and senior Adam Weinstein. Lastly, at third doubles, junior Marcus Lawrence (Acton, Mass.) and sophomore Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.) rolled to an 8-3 win over seniors Brian Kavanagh and Alex Pearson.

Franklin Pierce went to singles play needing just two more points to wrap up the match and got them from the first two singles matches, both of which were decided in straight sets. At first singles, Chong ground out a long, first-set tiebreak, on the way to a 7-6 (9), 6-4 victory over Howes. At second singles, Bisazza dispatched Weinstein, 7-5, 6-2.

Barak also provided a straight-set win at third singles, as he rolled over Kavanagh, 6-1, 6-2. In the pro-set format, Lawrence notched an 8-6 win over Harris at fifth singles, and Toombs went past senior Benji Page, 8-2, at sixth singles.

The most competitive match of the day accounted for Saint Anselm's lone point of the afternoon. Kmetz outlasted Schadt at fourth singles, 7-6 (7), 1-6, 10-8.

The Ravens return to the court on Saturday, March 3, when they return home to host Saint Michael's at 1 p.m. 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).