MADISON, N.J. (March 30, 2019) – The FDU-Florham men's tennis picked up a 6-3 win over Penn State-Abington but fell to Wilkes 9-0 Saturday afternoon.
The Devils move to 7-4 on the season with the split, but fall to 0-1 within the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom.
WILKES 9, FDU-Florham 0
The Colonels dominated doubles play, dropping just five games. The No. 1 duo of senior
Rich Bennett and junior
Kevin Weller managed to take three, falling 8-3. Both the No. 2 and No. 3 flights mustered just one game each, dropping a pair of 8-1 decisions.
Bennett and freshman
John Bricker each won three games, falling 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 and No. 3 singles respectively. Freshman
JT Murray had a battle at the No. 4 flight, picking up a 6-3 first set win. After dropping the second 6-0, Murray was bested 10-6 in a hard-fought third set.
Junior
Chris Fiorenza nearly forced the tie-breaking third set but fell 7-5 in the second after losing the first 6-2. Freshman
Michael LaNeve was bested in a tie-breaker in the second set. The rookie, who was topped in the first set 6-1, lost the second 7-6 (7-1) to close out singles play.
FDU-Florham 6, Penn State-Abington 3
FDU picked up a clean-sweep at doubles, winning all three flights. Weller and Bennett picked up an 8-4 win at the top of the lineup before Murray and Fiorenza cruised to an 8-2 triumph. The duo of Bricker and LaNeve won 8-2 at the No. 3 flight to help complete the sweep. That tandem was playing together for the first time and earned the victory.
Penn State Abington battled back, claiming the top two flights of singles play. Bricker and Murray had each moved up two flights, playing No. 1 and No. 2 singles for the first time this season. They also picked up a victory at No. 6 singles.
The middle of the Devils singles lineup was the difference, as LaNeve, sophomore
Tyler Schacher and senior
Brendon Urbano all earned wins. LaNeve won a pro-style set 8-3, while Urbano won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5. Schacher won the opening frame 6-4 but fell 6-3 in the second. The sophomore closed out the victory with a 10-2 third set win.
UP NEXT
The Devils are back in action Thursday hosting Oneonta at 3:30 p.m.
