CUMBERLAND, R.I. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team played tough against defending Northeast Conference champion Bryant on Saturday but came up short in a 5-2 defeat.
 
The Knights (5-5, 2-1 NEC), who were picked just behind Bryant in the NEC preseason poll at the beginning of February, took one of three doubles matches and two of the six singles points against the Bulldogs (10-12, 1-0 NEC). Another singles match that FDU dropped went to three sets, and a fourth match came down to a difference of three games total over two sets.
 
Senior Ivan Solans Diaz earned victories in both singles and doubles, partnering with junior Moric Budinszky at third doubles for a 7-6 (4) victory before capturing a straight-set victory, 6-3, 6-3, at the fifth singles spot over Trent Massam.
 
Redshirt sophomore Niclas Pietsch gained the Knights first point of the day with his three-set singles win at the no. 3 position. Pietsch overtook Jorge Isaias Ortiz Garcia 6-2 in the first set before dropping the second, 3-6, to force a decisive third stanza. Pietsch then returned to form from his first set and bounced back with another 6-2 set victory to earn his 10th singles win of the year.
 
Junior Andris Gudins and sophomore Mehdi Dhouib each fell in close singles matches at the no. 4 and no. 2 positions, respectively. Gudins challenged Alexander Schou and recovered from a 5-7 first-set defeat to win 6-4 in the second stanza, but Schou then pulled ahead and ended the match with a 6-3 win in the third set.
 
Dhouib suffered a close loss by tiebreaker in his first set against Guido Argentini, 6-7 (3), and continued to fight hard in the second set but fell just short in a 5-7 loss to end his match.
 
Freshman Teodor Pukse's nine-match winning streak at no. 1 singles came to an end, with Bryant's Wilson Dong defeating the NEC Player and Rookie of the Month in a 6-2, 6-4 straight-set win.
 
The Knights travel to Orlando, Fla., for their two matches next week, playing at the USTA National Campus against Fairfield and Quinnipiac on Wednesday, March 11, and Thursday, March 12, respectively, with both bouts starting at 11 a.m.
 
BOX SCORE
 
DOUBLES
Guido Argentini/Trent Massam (BRY) def. Teodors Pukse/Niclas Pietsch (FDU), 6-2
Wilson Dong/Alexander Schou (BRY) def. Mehdi Dhouib/Andris Gudins (FDU), 6-4
Ivan Solans Diaz/Moric Budinszky (FDU) def. Grant Pertile/Jorge Isaias Ortiz Garcia (BRY), 7-6 (4)
 
SINGLES
Dong (BRY) def. Pukse (FDU), 6-2, 6-4
Argentini (BRY) def. Dhouib (FDU), 7-6 (3), 7-5
Pietsch (FDU) def. Isaias Ortiz Garcia (BRY), 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Schou (BRY) def. Gudins (FDU), 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
Solans Diaz (FDU) def. Massam (BRY), 6-3, 6-3
Nick Lorenz (BRY) def. Youssef Sader (FDU), 6-4, 6-3