SYRACUSE, N.Y. (May 1, 2021) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's tennis team took the court in the final round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship for the third time in program history on Saturday afternoon. For the third time, the team had to settle for the runner-up trophy. The third-seeded Ravens were defeated on the road by the league's regular-season champion, Le Moyne, 4-1.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce fell to 7-2. Le Moyne improved to 10-0, claimed the program's first-ever NE10 title and clinched the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

Le Moyne took two of three doubles matches to claim the doubles point to open play. At first doubles, senior Tom Jarry and graduate student Philip Blythe posted a 6-3 win over graduate student Felipe Carvalho (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and junior Preston Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.). At third doubles, it was a 6-4 win for sophomores Felipe Cruz and Ethan Miller over seniors Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya'akov, Israel) and Nkrumah Patrick (Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago).

Franklin Pierce picked up a win at second doubles. Graduate student Kevin Denecheau (Artigueloutan, France) and freshman Ivan Bernal (Madrid, Spain) chalked up a 6-3 victory over senior brothers James and Jared Howard.

Things were highly competitive in singles play, though three of the four matches to finish broke Le Moyne's way. The Dolphins pushed the lead to 3-0 with straight-set wins at second and fifth singles. At second singles, Jarry cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Denecheau. At fifth singles, it was a 6-4, 6-1 win for sophomore Kacper Piekarek against Barak.

Franklin Pierce cut the gap to 3-1 with a three-set win at third singles, where Bernal rallied past Blythe, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, but Le Moyne went on to wrap things up at first singles. Jared Howard dropped the first set but posted a come-from-behind victory of his own, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, over Carvalho.

Both fourth and sixth singles were in their respective third sets as well, but were left unfinished after the Dolphins clinched the team match.

The Ravens have a non-conference match at Brandeis scheduled for Tuesday, May 4 at 3 p.m.