CUMBERLAND, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Tennis team faltered in its home opener Saturday evening, dropping a close 4-5 match to the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

The Hawks earned three wins in singles play. Ryan Kim (Port Washington, N.Y.) took a 6-3, 6-4 decision in the second flight over Troy Pandolfi, while David Lange defeated Christoph Forster 6-1, 6-0 in #4 singles. Nicholas Hawvermale (Bethlehem, Conn.) earned the third win in #5 singles, going 7-5, 6-1.

RWU had more difficulty in doubles play, with Spencer Withington (Plymouth, Mass.) and Kevin Erikson (Tolland, Conn.) getting the Hawks's only win in an 8-4 decision over Ken Sims and Alex Samoiloff. Lange and Dan Kleitz (Wethersfield, Conn.) lost a difficult #1 doubles match to Forster and Mason Viau. Lange and Kleitz led throughout the match before Viau and Forster fought back to force the tiebreaker, eventually taking the match 9-8 (7-1).

With the match tied at 4-4, the deciding match came down to #1 singles between Viau and Brad Bolte (Augusta, N.J.). Though Bolte won the first set 6-3, Viau came back to win the second and third sets by identical 6-4 scores to secure the win for UMass-Darmouth.

Roger Williams (1-3) gears up for its Spring Break trip beginning March 16 with a match against Grinnell College. UMass-Dartmouth (1-0) hosts Newbury College on March 25.

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Tennis Match Results

UMass Dartmouth vs Roger Williams

03/07/09 at Cumberland, R.I.

UMass Dartmouth 5, Roger Williams 4

Singles competition:

1. Mason Viau (UMDMT) def. Brad Bolte (RWU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

2. Ryan Kim (RWU) def. Troy Pandolfi (UMDMT) 6-3, 6-4

3. Karsten Rathlev (UMDMT) def. Kyle Baker (RWU) 6-4, 6-1

4. David Lange (RWU) def. Christoph Forster (UMDMT) 6-1, 6-0

5. Nicholas Hawvermale (RWU) def. Ken Sims (UMDMT) 7-5, 6-1

6. Brian Lui (UMDMT) def. Spencer Withington (RWU) 7-5, 6-4

Doubles competition:

1. Mason Viau/Christoph Forster (UMDMT) def. Dan Kleitz/David Lange (RWU) 9-8 (7-1)

2. Troy Pandolfi/Karsten Rathlev (UMDMT) def. Brad Bolte/Jeffrey Agonia (RWU) 8-4

3. Spencer Withington/Kevin Erikson (RWU) def. Ken Sims/Alex Samoiloff (UMDMT) 8-4

Match Notes:

UMass Dartmouth 1-0

Roger Williams 1-3

T-3:00  A-30