COLCHESTER, Vt. - In a match that featured four tie-breakers among nine sets decided by two games or fewer, the Saint Michael's College men's tennis team lost its home opener to Saint Anselm College, 7-2, on Tuesday during Northeast-10 Conference play in the Tarrant Recreation Center. The Purple Knights are 1-7 overall and 0-2 in the league, while the Hawks improved to 4-10 and 1-4.
Saint Michael's, which played its first of three straight home matches, claimed 74 total games during a 6-3 loss last year to Saint Anselm; the Purple Knights exceeded that total with 75 games on Tuesday.
The hosts trailed 2-1 heading into singles play. At No. 2 doubles, seniors Patrick Dietz (Prospect, Conn./Woodland Regional) and Ben Lambert (Milford, N.H./Milford) led 3-2 before yielding the final six games and losing 8-3, while senior Forrest Owen (Northboro, Mass./Saint John's) and first-year Matt Mosher (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) led 4-3 before absorbing an 8-5 defeat in the third spot.
With their team down 2-0, senior Hayden Steward (Hamilton, Mass./Pingree School) and sophomore Dan Foley (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) rallied for a 9-8 (9-7) triumph at No. 1. Down 7-6 with the visitors serving for the match, the Purple Knight duo broke the Hawks before Foley served out the next game to put the hosts up 8-7. However, Saint Anselm won the following game to force a tie-breaker, ultimately taking a 6-5 edge, just one point from victory. Saint Michael's won both points with Foley again at the service line, split points on the visitors' serve, and won the ninth point with Steward on serve, as his opponent was unable to return a second shot.
After Foley fell 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, Dietz dropped his first set in the second position but led 5-4 in the second before losing in a tie-breaker to cap a 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) decision. Steward concluded a marathon day with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 loss at No. 4 to clinch the match for the Hawks, having led 6-5 in the second set and 2-1 early in the third. Lambert finished off a comeback of his own at No. 1, with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win for his team's second point.
Sophomore Max Allen (Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth Regional) trimmed a 4-1 deficit to 5-4 in his first set during a 6-4, 6-0 loss in the sixth position. Mosher trailed 4-1 in his first set at No. 5 before forcing a 5-5 tie in an eventual 7-5 loss, and led 4-2 during the second set but later lost 7-6 following a 7-2 setback in a tie-breaker.
The Purple Knights host Stonehill College on Saturday at 12 p.m.
