RINDGE, N.H. (April 7, 2018) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team moved back above .500 in Northeast-10 Conference play on Saturday afternoon by narrowly edging past Bentley at home in a hotly-contested match, 5-4.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 9-9 (4-3 NE10), while Bentley falls to 12-7 (4-3 NE10). It marked the first win for the Ravens over the Falcons -- who are currently ranked seventh in the East Region -- since 2005. For Franklin Pierce, the fourth win in NE10 play matches the most for the program since the 2011-12 campaign.

First doubles would wind up being one of the day's pivotal matches, as it was one of several tightly-contested matchups in a team match which was ultimately decided by just one point. First doubles went all the way to a tiebreak, and went deep into said tiebreak, before ultimately breaking in Franklin Pierce's favor. It was a 9-8 (6) win for freshman Roberto Chong (Puigpunyent, Spain) and junior Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.), over seniors Brendan McCarthy and George Samander. The Bentley duo is currently the sixth-ranked doubles team in the region.

Bentley took the remaining two doubles contests soundly. At second doubles, juniors Michael Fuca and Brett Gilman rolled past sophomore Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) and junior Marcus Lawrence (Acton, Mass.), 8-1. At third doubles, it was an 8-3 win for junior Dylan Granat and freshman Connor Aulson over junior James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) and sophomore Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.).

Bentley thus took a 2-1 lead into singles play, but Franklin Pierce quickly jumped out front, 3-2, with wins at both first and second singles. At first singles, Chong went past McCarthy, 6-2, 7-5. Meanwhile, Bisazza rolled over Samander at second singles, 6-2, 6-1. Bentley evened the match at 3-3 with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win at fourth singles, courtesy of freshman Daniel Weitz, who bettered Schadt.

From there, the team match would turn on a trio of three-set singles contests, two of which went to the Ravens. At third singles, Barak was able to grind out a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over Granat. The decisive blow then came at fifth singles, which went deep into the third set before Lawrence pulled out the 6-1, 6-7 (3), 7-5 win over Fuca.

Bentley created the 5-4 final with a three-set win at sixth singles. Aulson notched a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Toombs.

The Ravens return to the court on Monday, April 9, when they travel to Southern New Hampshire for an NE10 match at 3 p.m. in Manchester, N.H.

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).