NEWARK, N.J. -The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team (3-5, 0-0 NEC) fell just short to the NJIT Highlanders (4-4, 0-0 SLC), 3-4, on Wednesday night at the Naimoli Tennis Center. 

In doubles play, redshirt senior Niclas Pietsch and senior Mehdi Dhouib were defeated 6-3 by Josh Smith and Oscar Callo Con Platen in the No. 1 spot. In court No. 3, NJIT's Abdullah Fouad and Daniel Sabogal clinched the match over freshmen Justas Trainauskas and Fernando Tardin in a tiebreak, 7-6.  

In singles play, Trainauskas fell to Fouad in the No.1 spot 6-3, 6-3. Pietsch in the No. 4 position registered a win over Callo Von Platen, 6-3, 7-6 (0-4). Sophomore Arjun Sriram defeated Josh Smith, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 3 spot followed by another win for FDU from Dhouib in the No. 2 spot over Amine El Kholti, 7-6 (0-3), 5-7, 6-2. The Knights dropped the last two matches in the No. 5 and 6 spots sealing the win for NJIT.  

FDU returns to action Tuesday, March 8 with a match against Temple in Philadelphia, PA., at the Temple University Pavillion Tennis Courts. 

Box Score  

Singles 
1. Abdullah Fouad (NJIT) Def. Trainauskas, Justas (FDU) 6-3, 6-3 
2. Dhouib, Mehdi (FDU) Def. Amine El Kholti (NJIT) 7-6 (0-3), 5-7, 6-2 
3. Sriram, Arjun (FDU) Def. Josh Smith (NJIT) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 
4. Pietsch, Niclas (FDU) Def. Oscar Callo Von Platen (NJIT) 6-3, 7-6 (0-4) 
5. Ashwin Kanetkar (NJIT) Def. Budinszky, Moric (FDU) 6-1, 6-1 
6. Samuel Townes (NJIT) Def. Tardin, Fernando (FDU) 7-5, 7-5 

Doubles 
1. Josh Smith/Oscar Callo Von Platen (NJIT) Def. Pietsch, Niclas/Dhouib, Mehdi (FDU) 6-3 2. Amine El Kholti/Samuel Townes (NJIT) Vs. Sriram, Arjun/Budinszky, Moric (FDU) 6-6, Unfinished 
3. Abdullah Fouad/Daniel Sabogal (NJIT) Def. Trainauskas, Justas/Tardin, Fernando (FDU) 7-6 (0-5) 

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3) - Singles (1,4,3,2,5,6) 
 

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