BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team defeated ranked Division II foe Concordia (N.Y.) Wednesday afternoon, 4-3, to earn its first victory of the 2020 season.
 
The Knights (1-3) handed the 17th-ranked Clippers (1-1) their first loss of the year by winning two of three doubles matches followed by each of the first three singles decisions. Freshman Mehdi Dhouib and redshirt sophomore Niclas Pietsch played big roles in the FDU victory, teaming up to clinch the doubles point at the first doubles spot and then winning their respective singles matches as well.
 
Concordia took the first doubles match at the no. 2 spot, 6-3, over the FDU duo of freshman Teodors Pukse and junior Maciej Autuch. Senior Ivan Solans Diaz and junior Moric Budinszky countered, however, with a doubles win at the no. 3 position over Henry Masters and Jonatan Lundahl, winning the match 6-4.
 
Needing a win to clinch doubles, Dhouib and Pietsch toppled the no. 7 ranked doubles duo in Division II, Michele Fenoaltea and Tobias Lentz, in a 6-4 match to give the Knights the first point of the day.
 
At the no. 2 singles spot, Dhouib carried his momentum from doubles into singles, dropping only one game to Masters in a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Pietsch also followed suit with a win at the no. 3 singles spot over Lentz, 6-3, 6-1.
 
Pukse then kept his unbeaten singles streak going at the no. 1 spot to help FDU seal the match, delivering a 6-1, 6-4 win over Jan Godfrey Seno. Pukse is now 4-0 at the no. 1 singles spot this spring.
 
Concordia finished out the match winning the last three singles bouts, but FDU had already clinched the overall match victory with Pukse's singles triumph. Budinszky and Autuch fell by identical 4-6, 1-6 scores at the five and six singles spots, while Solans Diaz battled Fenoaltea to a supertiebreaker before succumbing to a close 6-7 (5), 6-3, 8-10 loss.
 
FDU plays again on Thursday against another tough Division II opponent, playing at three-time East Coast Conference champion Queens College (N.Y.) Thursday at 11 a.m.
 
BOX SCORE
 
DOUBLES
Mehdi Dhouib/Niclas Pietsch (FDU) def. #7 Michele Fenoaltea/Tobias Lentz (CND), 6-4
Jan Godfrey Seno/William Nilsson (CND) def. Teodors Pukse/Maciej Autuch (FDU), 6-3
Ivan Solans Diaz/Moric Budinszky (FDU) def. Henry Masters/Jonatan Lundahl (CND), 6-4
 
SINGLES
Pukse (FDU) def. Godfrey Seno (CND), 6-1, 6-4
Dhouib (FDU) def. Masters (CND), 6-1, 6-0
Pietsch (FDU) def. Lentz (CND), 6-3, 6-1
Fenoaltea (CND) def. Solans Diaz (FDU), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 10-8
Nilsson (CND) def. Budinszky (FDU), 6-4, 6-1
Lundahl (CND) def. Autuch (FDU), 6-4, 6-1