Lazowski combined for a win at No. 1 doubles in his final collegiate match (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix)

Denecheau and Bernal lead Ravens into Tuesday's semifinals

RINDGE, N.H. (April 24, 2021) – No. 3-seeded Franklin Pierce University, ranked No. 7 in the most recent Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional rankings, turned back No. 6-seed Stonehill College, ranked No. 10 in the region, 4-0 in first round action of the 2021 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Tennis Tournament at FPU Courts this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce (6-1, 5-1 NE10) advances to Tuesday's NE10 Semifinals and visits No. 2-seeded Southern New Hampshire University, ranked No. 3 in the Oracle/ITA Division II East Region rankings, at 1 p.m. SNHU (8-1, 7-1 NE10) advanced with a 4-0 win over No. 7-seeded Saint Michael's College (0-10, 0-9 NE10) in today's first round match. Stonehill sees its 2021 spring season come to a close with a 1-9 record overall, including 1-8 in the NE10, having made its Conference record-matching 20^th appearance in the NE10 Tournament.

Highlights

• Postgrad Kevin Denecheau and freshman Ivan Bernal led the way for Franklin Pierce as double-winners. The duo helped turn the doubles point around for the Ravens at No. 2 and then each claimed singles wins at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, with Denecheau notching the match-clinching point.
• Sophomore Joel Cladera also recorded a singles win for Franklin Pierce at No. 4, while the Ravens No. 3 doubles pairing of seniors Yuval Barak and Nkrumah Patrick contributed a key win at No. 3 doubles.
• Senior Aleksander Lazowski and sophomore Christian Duffy provided some early life for Stonehill with a 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles against the Franklin Pierce tandem of postgrad Felipe Carvalho and junior Preston Gordon.
• Duffy was also battling back at No. 1 singles against Carvalho, leading 5-4 in the second set after Carvalho took the first, 6-2, when the match was halted after the clinching point was decided.

Duffy teamed up with Lazowski for the win at No. 1 doubles and was in a battle at No. 1 singles when the match was halted (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix)

How it Happened

• Denecheau and Bernal picked up the first win of the afternoon with their 6-1 decision at No. 2 doubles.
• Duffy and Lazowski knotted the doubles matches at one apiece with their win over Carvalho and Gordon at the top flight.
• Barak and Patrick then clinched the doubles point, slipping past Stonehill senior Trent Newman and sophomore Ben Simmons at No. 3.
• Bernal opened singles play with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3 against Newman for Franklin Pierce's first singles point.
• Cladera pulled Franklin Pierce within a point of the match by defeating Stonehill junior Vincent Huynh 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
• Denecheau then cliched the win for Franklin Pierce by holding off Stonehill senior Russell White at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 7-5.

Noteworthy

• The match is the ninth this season for Stonehill out of its ten against a team ranked in the Oracle/ITA Division II East Region rankings.
• Franklin Pierce advances to the NE10 semifinals for the fifth time since joining the Conference prior to the 2001 season.
• Stonehill was appearing in its third-straight NE10 Tournament, the 20^th in program history to share the NE10 record along with fellow first rounder Bentley University (2-8, 2-6 NE10), who was edged by fourth-seeded Adelphi University (6-3, 5-3 NE10) today.
• This afternoon marked the final match in the Stonehill careers of seniors Joey Conrod, Huynh, Lazowski, Newman and White.

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