Madison NJ. (April 25)- The #2 seeded FDU-Florham men's tennis team (9-4, 6-1 MAC FREE) secured its spot in the MAC Freedom Finals this weekend as they took down the #3 seeded DeSales (9-5, 5-2 MAC FREE), 5-3 on Tuesday afternoon.

The Devils advance to the MAC Freedom Finals for the first time since 2016.

In doubles play, DeSales jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the duo of Aiden Kiernan and Will Pollick defeated the pairing of Zach Puccia (Red Bank, NJ) and Brandon Schwartz (Gladwayne, Pa.), 8-5 in doubles #2. FDU was able to battle back however and take the next two doubles matches with Tyler Crook (East Orange, NJ) and Joni Carasso (Buenos Aires, Argentina) besting Augie Citrone and Philip Ritchie, 8-3 in doubles #1 followed by Ronald Duval (Old Bridge, NJ) and Matthew Emery (Howell, NJ) who defeated Mark Sherrill and Thomas Blomquist, 8-6 in doubles #3 to give the Devils the 2-1 advantage heading into singles play.

In singles action, DeSales was able to tie the match back up as Kiernan bested Puccia in straight sets of 6-1 in singles #3 but Crook regained the lead for FDU when he defeated Citrione in straight sets of 6-2 and 6-1 in the #1 singles match. The matchup between Carasso and Ritchie in singles #2 went into a third set with Carasso taking set one, 6-4 and Ritchie seizing set two with a score of 6-3. Ritchie ultimately took the match after a 6-3 set three win.

With the total score tied at three matches a piece, Duval and Sherrill played the #4 singles match into a third set when Duval captured the first set, 6-2 but fell in set two 6-4. Duval showed up big in set three as he was able to blank Sherrill, 6-0 to give the Devils a 4-3 lead and only needing one more match victory to win.

Emery and Pollick squared off in the singles #5 match that came down to a third set as well after each competitor took a 7-5 set win (Emery in set one, Pollick in set two). It came down to the third set but ultimately Emery emerged as the victor with a 6-4 win that sealed the playoff win for the Devils and
advanced them to the finals.

Karanveer Saini (Punjab, India) had the singles lead over Blomquist with a 7-6 win in set one with a 7-4 score in the tiebreaker and  had a 6-5 lead in set two but the match went unfinished due to Emery clinching the match.

FDU-Florham will travel to North Bergen, NJ to matchup with #1 seeded Stevens for the MAC Freedom crown Saturday, April 29. Time still to be determined.

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