DANVERS, Mass. (March 24, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team dropped just one set across nine matches on Sunday morning, as the Ravens cruised to a shutout win at Emerson, 9-0, in non-conference play.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 7-3, while Emerson drops to 8-4.

Franklin Pierce quickly took a 3-0 lead to open play on Sunday, as the Ravens won all three doubles matches. The only one which was competitive was at first doubles, which required a tiebreak. Sophomores Roberto Chong (Puigpunyent, Spain) and Nkrumah Patrick (Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago) were eventually able to pull out an 8-7 (4) win over Emerson senior Daniel Okin and freshman Bass Lin. Elsewhere, freshman Preston Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.) and junior Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) cruised to an 8-2 win at first doubles, while seniors James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.) posted an 8-0 shutout at third doubles.

It was more of the same in singles play, where the Ravens collected six more victories to close out the 9-0 shutout. The only seriously competitive match of the sextet saw Chong and Lin split the first two sets at first singles, before the latter retired after the first game of the third set, which left Chong with the 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (ret.) victory. At second singles, freshman Maximo Lawlor made Bisazza work in the first set, but Bisazza ultimately came away with a 6-4, 6-2 win.

Franklin Pierce was particularly dominant farther down the ledger, as the Ravens dropped just six games across third, fourth, fifth and sixth singles. At third singles, Gordon took care of Okin, 6-1, 6-0. At fourth singles, Patrick whitewashed junior Brock Higley, 6-0, 6-0. At fifth singles, it was a 6-1, 6-1 win for Barak over freshman Jeff Pratt. At sixth singles, Schadt finished off junior Bernando Garza, 6-1, 6-2.

The Ravens return to the court on Thursday, March 28, when they return home to host Holy Cross at 3 p.m. in Rindge. 

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). 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 (https://www.fpuravens.com/store).