BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's tennis team dropped a 6-3 decision to Clark University on Wednesday evening in non-conference action at the South Campus Courts.
Clark went into singles play with a 3-0 advantage after doubles concluded by earning three hard-fought victories over Endicott.
The Cougars' No. 1 pairing of Spencer Pinkney (Falmouth, Mass.) and Lenny Siegel (Boca Raton, Fla.) claimed an 8-5 win over Christopher Kirkpatrick (Newburyport, Mass.) and Michael Dolph (Stratford, Conn.), while the No. 3 pairing of Ian Levy (Needham, Mass.) and Ross Kennedy (Winchester, Mass.) defeated Matthew Doherty (Plymouth, Mass.) and Anthony Rinaldi (Attleboro Falls, Mass.) by an identical score.
Clark's No. 2 pairing of Teodor Nicola-Antoniu (Bucharest, Romania) and Andrey Samodaev (Boca Raton, Fla.) went on to edge Eric Pierce (Barrington, R.I.) and Keaton McCleary (Newtown, Conn.) by a 9-7 score to complete the sweep at doubles for the Cougars.
In singles play, Mateo Gomez (Bogota, Columbia) and Nicola both won their respective matches (No. 5, No. 4) shortly apart from each other to wrap up the victory. Levy then proceeded to post a 6-3, 6-3 decision against Sam Salvas (Stowe, Vt.) at the No. 6 slot to round out Clark's list of winners.
Dolph picked up Endicott's first victory of the evening with a 6-1, 6-4 triumph versus Siegel, while Pierce followed with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) win at the No. 2 position. Kirkpatrick ended the non-conference match for the Gulls with a gritty 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 victory against Samodaev.
TOP QUOTE
"We played a quality opponent today in Clark University and it showed throughout every portion of the match," said Endicott men's tennis head coach Jeremy Howard. "The loss today was a tough way to end our fall season, but we will use it as motivation to improve in the offseason. I am very excited to see where we can go with this team next spring."
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Kirkpatrick remained undefeated in singles play (4-0, all at No. 1) on the season with his hard-fought win over Samodaev today.
- Dolph is also undefeated in singles play (4-0, all at No. 3) this season.
- Clark is 3-0 against Endicott in their last three meetings (2015: W, 6-3 | 2013: W, 7-2 | 2012: W, 7-2).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (1-3) returns to action on Thursday, March 24 as the Gulls travel Salem State University for a non-conference matchup at 3:30 p.m. Clark University (1-1) hosts Gordon College on Wednesday, October 21 at 4 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
