College Tennis
Men: Lafayette College 4, Rider University 3
Women: Lafayette College 6, Rider University 1

LAWRENCEVILLE—Both the Rider University men's and women's tennis teams lost a hard fought non-conference match to Lafayette College on Friday afternoon.

For the Rider men, sophomore Diego Delgado (Lara, Venezuela/Colegio Rioclaro) and junior Matthew Begley (Pennington/Hopewell Valley Central) teamed up for a victory at first doubles (6-4) with sophomore Jeremy Van Herwarde (Sussex/Pope John XXIII) and freshman Ryan Ciaccio (Mercerville/Hamilton North (Nottingham)) scoring a 7-5 win at third doubles to clinch the team point.

Van Herwarde won at third singles 6-2, 6-3 and Ciaccio was victorious at sixth singles 6-2, 6-0.  For Ciaccio it was his second singles win in a row and ninth win of the season with Van Herwarde winning for the fourth time in singles play.

The match came down to freshman Brandon Gildea (Manahawkin/Southern Regional) who lost the third and final set by a score of 7-5 at fifth singles.

“The men's team played well enough to win,” said head coach Doug Potkay.  “The match came down to the last two singles matches.  Brandon rallied back after losing his first set 6-0 to tie his match one set each.  He then battled against four match points to tie the third set before losing 7-5.  It was the most exciting match of the day.”

For the Rider women, sophomore Olivia Banks (Baltimore, Md./Franklin) was a 6-1, 6-2 winner at fifth singles and the doubles tandem of sophomore Montana Morris (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and sophomore Danielle Scrudato (Califon/Voorhees) emerged victorious by a 6-0 score at third doubles.

For Banks it was her third singles win of the spring.

“Even though it a 6-1 score, the matches were very close,” Potkay said.  “We lost those critical ad points.  Olivia played well, as did Danielle and Montana.  Caitlin (Gardner) also played a strong match at second singles.”

The Rider men travel to Saint Joseph's University for a non-conference match on Sunday.

-RU-