Men’s Tennis Competes at ITA East Region Championships
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (October 3, 2016) – Over the weekend, members of the Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team competed at the Division II ITA Oracle Cup East Region Championships, hosted by NYIT at Eisenhower Park.
In singles play, sophomores James Bisazza (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Andrew Schadt (Tolland, Conn.) were the two Ravens to advance to the first round of the tournament proper, as all other Franklin Pierce entries were eliminated in qualifying. Bisazza began his tournament having already been placed in the first round, where he dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Cosme Jubera of Queens (N.Y.).
Meanwhile, Schadt had to earn his way into the draw by winning a pair of qualifying matches. In the first round of qualifying, he dispatched freshman Manu Ravichanddrakumar of Stonehill, 8-6, and followed up in the second round of qualifying with an 8-3 defeat of Merrimack senior James Hook. Having advanced to the main draw, Schadt was felled in the first round by sophomore Rafael Navas of host NYIT.
As mentioned above, all other Ravens singles entrants were knocked out in qualifying over the weekend. Sophomore Marcus Lawrence (Acton, Mass.) picked up an 8-0 win in the first round of qualifying over District of Columbia junior Francis Ngobounan, before falling in the second round of qualifying against Stonehill freshman Aaron Diamond, 8-3.
Five other Ravens were defeated in the first round of qualifying. Freshman Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) lost an 8-1 decision to Southern New Hampshire freshman Bas Van Biezen. Freshman Trevor Jones (South Hamilton, Mass.) was done in by junior Chandat Phan of University of the Sciences, 8-0. Sophomore Dan Longtin (Eliot, Maine) was downed by St. Thomas Aquinas freshman Matthew Corsie. Sophomore Joshua Singer (Toms River, N.J.) was swept by sophomore Ludvig Henrikson, 8-0. Lastly, junior Olivier Viel (Quebec City, Quebec) fell to USciences sophomore Borna Novak, 8-3.
In doubles play, the duo of Bisazza and Barak picked up the lone win for the Ravens in the event, as they tallied an 8-5 first-round victory over Ravichanddrakumar and junior Tom Buckley of Stonehill. Bisazza and Barak then went the distance in the second round, before falling in a tiebreak, 9-8 (5), against sophomore Camilo Arias and junior Miguel Bendito of Queens.
Each of the remaining three Franklin Pierce doubles squads would fall in their first match of the weekend. Lawrence and Schadt picked up a first-round bye, before falling to junior Aaron Stahl and freshman Luke Taplin of STAC, 8-4. Viel and Longtin had a first-round bye as well, but then fell, 8-1, against the tournament's fifth seed, consisting of NYIT senior Rafal Charkiewicz and junior Rares Ispas. Elsewhere, Singer and Jones were defeated in the first round by freshman Philip Blythe and sophomore Tyler Underwood of Le Moyne, 8-1.
The Ravens return to the court on Sunday, Oct. 9, when they travel to Colby for a non-conference match at 1 p.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).