WEST POINT, NY and NEWARK, NJ – The Rider University men's tennis team fell in a pair of matches to Richmond and NJIT on Sunday. The Broncs opened the day against Richmond in West Point, NY, falling to the Spiders, 4-0, before being defeated by NJIT, 5-2, on the way home in Newark, NJ. With the losses, the Broncs fall to 2-4, while the Spiders and Highlanders each moved to 2-0 on the year.

Against Richmond, the Spiders took the doubles point with a pair of 6-3 wins at Nos. 2 and 3 to take the 1-0 lead. Cooper Dillon (Brisbane, Australia/Laurel Springs) and Lucas Flotta (Belle Mead, NJ/The Pennington School) trailed 5-4 to Daniel Kliebhan and Paxton Pritchard at No. 1 when the match was halted.

The Spiders clinched the match with straight-sets victories at Nos. 2, 3 and 4. Dhruv Tangri (Punjab, India/Cambridge International School) and Nathan Slattery (Nenagh, Ireland) each fell, 7-6, in their first sets at Nos. 1 and 5, respectively, before their matches went unfinished.

At NJIT, the Highlanders swept the doubles point. Giacomo Ghitti (Brescia, Italy/Marco Polo) and Matthew Griscti (Madliena, Malta) were most competitive at No. 3, falling, 7-5, to Nejc Skorjanc and Tom Sorin.

In singles, the Highlanders clinched the match with straight-sets victories at Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5. However, the Broncs took the remaining two matches in third-set tie-breakers. Roger Martinez (Girona, Spain/Saint George's School) defeated Oscar Callo von Platen, 6-1, 3-6, 10-4, at No. 3, while Jake Grimes (Atlanta, GA/Johnson Ferry Christian Academy) got past former teammate Pablo Salar Carrera, 5-7, 6-3, 10-6, at No. 6.

The Broncs return to action Friday, when they take on Navy in a pair of matches at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. from Annapolis, MD.