EASTON, Mass. (April 25, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team chalked up a 5-2 road win on Thursday, in its penultimate Northeast-10 Conference match of the season, at Stonehill.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 11-8 (5-3 NE10), while Stonehill falls to 12-9 (4-5 NE10).

Franklin Pierce wrapped up its second straight NE10 Championship berth while it was idle over the weekend, by virtue of an Adelphi loss on Saturday. The Ravens are currently tied for fourth with Le Moyne, and the two teams are already assured of meeting in the first round of the conference tournament. Le Moyne holds the tiebreaker between the two by virtue of its head-to-head win over Franklin Pierce on April 3. As a result, if Le Moyne wins its match against Saint Michael's on Friday, the Ravens will travel to Le Moyne for the first round on Tuesday, April 30. If Le Moyne loses, Franklin Pierce will have the opportunity to earn a first round home match by defeating Merrimack on Saturday.

On Thursday, Franklin Pierce took two of the three doubles matches at Stonehill to lay claim to the doubles point. First doubles went to a tiebreak, with sophomores Roberto Chong (Puigpunyent, Spain) and Nkrumah Patrick (Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago) able to pull out a 7-6 (2) win over Stonehill sophomore Trent Newman and junior Samuel Miller. At third doubles, seniors Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.) and James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) notched a 7-5 win over freshman Vincent Huynh and sophomore Aleksander Lazowski.

Franklin Pierce also picked up wins in three of the top four singles matches to wrap up the victory. Second and fourth singles effectively combined to swing the match, as both were three-set affairs. At second doubles, Bisazza rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Miller. At fourth singles, Patrick scuffled in the second set, but finished off a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over Huynh. Chong added a 6-2, 6-1 win over Newman at first singles, while junior Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) notched a 7-6 (3), 6-1 win over freshman Juan Camilo Riano Rojas at fifth singles to create the 5-2 final.

Third singles was highly competitive as well, as it was the other three-set match of the day. Stonehill sophomore Russell White squeaked out a 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-5 win over freshman Preston Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.).

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).