COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's tennis team lost to Franklin & Marshall, 8-1, on Saturday. The doubles pairing of Matt Fontanese and Mason Groff got the lone win for the Bears to avoid the sweep.

Fontanese and Groff have been a staple at the top of the Bears' doubles lineup. The duo earned an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles against the Diplomats.  

The Bears started a young lineup on Saturday consisting of four freshmen. Lars Jespersen, Will Oberholtzer, Darby Rogers, and Rob Ritchie all started their first career collegiate matches.

At second doubles, the all-freshman pairing of Jespersen and Oberholtzer came up just short, falling 8-6.

In singles, Groff battled at number one. The senior lost two tight sets by one break of serve, 7-5, 6-4.

Ritchie lost the opening set 6-0 in at number six singles, but battled hard in the second set before succumbing to a 7-5 defeat.

What's Next?

The Bears are scheduled to play at home again next weekend against Washington College.

Coach's Corner

"First I would like to congratulate F&M," said head coach Pete Smith. "They were really good today and they deserve a lot of credit.

I'm not discouraged by today's loss at all. We ran into a strong, experienced team that was better than us. But we need to remember that we had four freshmen playing their first collegiate match today. It was a huge ask for them to face that team in their debut, but I saw a lot to be encouraged by.

I'm also completely impressed with the match that Mason and Matt played today. They were dominant against a super talented number one doubles team from F&M. Their final history hasn't yet been written, but they are arguably the best doubles team I've had in my 14 years here.

I'm really looking forward to next week against Washington College. We will get better this week and I'm interested to see how this team responds."