RINDGE, N.H (March 17, 2018) – As it moved back into Northeast-10 Conference play on Saturday afternoon, the Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team erased a 2-1 deficit to score a 7-2 win over visiting Stonehill.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 6-3 (3-0 NE10), while Stonehill falls to 7-4 (1-1 NE10). It marked Franklin Pierce's first win over Stonehill since 2005.

The Ravens opened the day in a 2-1 hole, after Stonehill took two of the three doubles matches. At second doubles, Franklin Pierce picked up the day's first point, with an 8-3 win, courtesy of juniors James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.), who topped Stonehill sophomore Manu Ravichandrakumar and senior Tom Buckley. Stonehill responded at first doubles, as seniors Thomas Bellio and Nikolay Lisichenok notched an 8-5 win over freshman Roberto Chong (Puigpunyent, Spain) and sophomore Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel).

The third doubles match was the most hotly-contested of the three, and allowed the Skyhawks to take the 2-1 lead. The match went all the way to a tiebreaker, with Stonehill freshman Joey Conrod and senior Jeffrey Gagnon pulling out a 9-8 (5) win over junior Marcus Lawrence (Acton, Mass.) and sophomore Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.).

The Ravens would not be denied in singles play however, as they rattled off wins in all six matches while dropping just one set along the way. Chong took care of Bellio at first singles, 6-4, 6-2, and Bisazza followed close behind, with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ravichandrakumar at second singles.

Barak was tested at third singles, but ultimately dispatched Lisichenok by a 6-4, 6-4 score line. It was Schadt's match at fourth singles which clinched the historic win for Franklin Pierce, as he dispatched sophomore Aaron Diamond, 6-3, 6-1, to give the Ravens an insurmountable, 5-2 lead.

The tightest of the six singles matches came at fifth singles, and actually wrapped after the team match was already decided. Lawrence utilized a first-set tiebreak and a win in the tiebreaker set to notch a wild, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 10-6 win over Buckley. In the pro set format at sixth singles, Toombs closed out the day with an 8-4 win over Gagnon.

The Ravens return to the court on Monday, March 19, when they open a three-match spring break trip to Florida, with a non-conference tilt at Eckerd at 10 a.m.

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).