ELKTON, Md. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team earned three wins in six singles matches but dropped a close 4-3 decision to Delaware at the Elkton Indoor Tennis Center on Friday.
The Knights (0-2) fell short in all three doubles matches to provide the Blue Hens (5-1) the first point of the day. Delaware then took the first two singles results to go up 3-0 before freshman
Teodors Pukse scored FDU's first point with a win at no. 1 singles. The Blue Hens then clinched the match with a third singles victory, with the Knights scoring wins in each of the final two completed singles bouts.
Pukse at no. 1 singles earned his second dual match win of the season, winning in straight sets over James Wilkinson 6-1, 6-4. Junior
Andris Gudins also picked up his second singles victory of the year with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Milo Nagle at the no. 6 position.
Redshirt sophomore
Niclas Pietsch won his first singles dual match since his freshman season after missing all of last spring due to injury. Playing at the no. 4 spot, Pietsch dropped his first set to Justice Jones but rallied back with a second-set win before deciding the match in the supertiebreaker by five points to finish off a 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 victory.
Gudins and sophomore
Mehdi Dhouib paired up at no. 2 doubles and dropped a 3-6 match to their Delaware adversaries, while senior
Ivan Solans Diaz and junior
Moric Budinszky fell by the same score in the no. 3 spot.
The Knights continue their road trip through Maryland on Saturday afternoon against the United States Naval Academy, taking on the Midshipmen at 4 p.m.
BOX SCORE
DOUBLES
James Wilkinson/Liam Hedlund (DEL) def.
Teodors Pukse/
Niclas Pietsch (FDU), 6-2
Guilherme Valdoleiros/Justice Jones (DEL) def.
Mehdi Dhouib/
Andris Gudins (FDU), 6-3
Luis Molina/Nathan Benyowitz (DEL) def.
Ivan Solans Diaz/
Moric Budinszky (FDU), 6-3
SINGLES
Pukse (FDU) def. Wilkinson (DEL), 6-1, 6-4
Molina (DEL) def. Dhouib (FDU), 6-3, 6-2
Valdoleiros (DEL) def. Solans Diaz (FDU), 6-1, 6-0
Pietsch (FDU) def. Jones (DEL), 3-6, 6-3, 10-5
Hedlund (DEL) def. Budinszky (FDU), 6-3, 6-1
Gudins (FDU) def. Milos Nagle, 6-2, 6-3
