MANCHESTER, N.H. (April 8, 2021) -- The Franklin Pierce University tennis program suffered its first defeat of 2021, men's or women's, on the road on Thursday afternoon. The men's team dropped a hotly-contested, 4-3 affair on the road against Southern New Hampshire. The victory allowed SNHU to avenge a loss from last week, which had snapped a 38-match winning streak in Northeast-10 Conference play for the Penmen.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-1 (3-1 NE10), while SNHU improves to 3-1 (3-1 NE10).

Doubles play was tight on Thursday, with SNHU ultimately taking two of three to claim the doubles point. Third doubles went final first, with Franklin Pierce's duo of senior Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) and sophomore Joel Cladera (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) picking up a 6-4 win over sophomore Zachary Duboulay and freshman Sam Goddard. SNHU answered with a 6-4 win of its own at second doubles, as junior Fernando Torres and senior Guido Janssen defeated graduate student Kevin Denecheau (Artigueloutan, France) and freshman Ivan Bernal (Madrid, Spain).

The doubles point thus came down to third doubles, which was a barnburner. It came all the way to a tiebreak, where SNHU's brotherly duo of graduate students Bas and Willem van Biezen pulled out a 7-6 (1) triumph over graduate student Felipe Carvalho (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and sophomore Alejandro Ortiz (Madrid, Spain).

Things remained dramatic throughout the afternoon as the teams moved through singles play. SNHU extended the lead to 2-0 as Torres notched a 6-4, 6-2 win over Barak at fifth singles, and Franklin Pierce answered at third singles, where Bernal bettered Janssen, 7-5, 6-3. The Penmen pushed the lead out to 3-1 as Willem van Biezen tallied a 6-2, 7-5 win over Denecheau at second singles, and Franklin Pierce answered again, with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win at fourth singles, as Cladera went past Goddard.

For added tension, the final two matches on the board both went to a third set. SNHU struck the decisive blow at sixth singles, as Duboulay pulled out a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win over Ortiz. Though first singles was thus rendered moot, Carvalho was able to rally for a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3) win in a third-set tiebreak over Bas van Biezen to create the 4-3 final.

The Ravens are scheduled to return to action on Saturday, April 10, when they travel to Bentley for a 2 p.m. start.