BEVERLY, Mass.--The Western New England University men's tennis team gave Commonwealth Coast Conference unbeaten opponent Endicott College a battle, but the host Gulls went 2-1 in doubles and 4-2 in singles action to take a 6-3 decision from the visiting Golden Bears on the South Campus Courts on Wednesday. With the win, the Gulls improve to 6-5 (4-0 CCC) on the season while the Golden Bears fall to 6-6 (2-2 CCC).
The No. 2 doubles tandem of juniors
Peter LeFrancois and
PJ Nassar tied the match at 1-1 with an 8-5 win over Michael Lauretano and Sean McAndrews. But Timothy Forance and Eric Gandrup downed juniors
John Mindek and
Greg Tischofer in a hard-fought No. 3 doubles match to give Endicott the lead for good at 2-1.
Sophomore
Andres Otero and Mindek picked up WNE's other points in the singles competition. Otero was victorious at No. 2 singles over Forance, 6-2, 6-4, while Mindek bested Justin Warshavsky, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 6.
"This is a tough loss for us. The team has been working hard every day and they left it all out on the court today," Western New England coach Jennifer Kolins said. "Every point in every match was fought until the end, and we are going back to work tomorrow to get ready for Gordon on Saturday. This team knows how to use their experiences to focus on what they need to work on to get better for the next match, and use positive energy and mental toughness to get there."
Western New England returns to the court on Saturday against CCC opponent Gordon College for a home date at the Volvo Outdoor Courts, beginning at noon.
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