HOPEWELL, NJ – The Rider University men's tennis team fell in a pair of matches late Friday night and Saturday afternoon to Villanova (4-3) and Bucknell (6-1) at Hopewell Valley Golf & Country Club. With the losses, the Broncs fall to 2-8 on the season.

Against Villanova, the Broncs dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker. Rider took the doubles point with wins from Dhruv Tangri (Punjab, India/Cambridge International School) and Jaime de Jaraiz (Las Rosas, Spain/Rafa Nadal International School) at No. 1 and Nathan Slattery (Nenagh, Ireland) and Jake Grimes (Atlanta, GA/Johnson Ferry Christian Academy) at No. 2. Tangri and de Jaraiz fought out a 7-6 victory over Josh Robinson and Thomas Wakefield, while Slattery and Grimes defeated Lukas Choi and Will Monahan, 6-3.

In singles, Slattery and Roger Martinez (Girona, Spain/Saint George's School) picked up straight-sets victories, but the Wildcats would win the remaining four singles flights, including three in three sets, to take the match. Slattery defeated Choi, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 4, while Martinez earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 2. Tangri fell to Robinson, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, at No. 1, while Stavros Hadjivarnava (Moutagiaka, Cyrus/British College of Gava) also took the first set in a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, setback to Monahan at No. 3. Villanova clinched the match on a third-set tie-breaker win by Wakefield at No. 5 over Grimes, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6.

"Heartbreaker," said Rider Head Coach Tom Battaglia. "We were up, 3-0, and a set on three courts, and we let it slip away. During the most important points, Nova came up big. It wasn't for lack of effort on our part. We played some big time tennis tonight. Sometimes you need a little luck and we just couldn't catch a break when we needed one. Again, credit to them. Great match all around. This one stings. Being on this side of a 4-3 loss when it looked like it was going to be a 4-0 win is going to hurt."

Against Bucknell, the Bison took the early 1-0 lead with wins in all three doubles flights. Martinez and Ibragim Turgambekov played the closest match of the three, falling to Liam Kilmer and Tim Zelikovsky, 7-6, at No. 3.

In singles, Hadjivarnava earned the Broncs' lone point of the match with a 5-7, 6-2, 10-8 win over Brendan McDonald at No. 4. The Bison took the remaining five flights in straight sets. Slattery and Jonathan Arbittier (Mendham, NJ/Dallastown Area) were both competitive at Nos. 3 and 6, respectively, but Slattery fell to Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega, 6-4, 7-6, and Arbittier was defeated by Zelikovsky, 7-6, 6-4.

"Guys fought hard today," said Battaglia. "Can't complain about our effort. Some quality tennis out there today. Stayed disciplined throughout. Have a few guys still sick but the guys who filled in did a tremendous job. Love the fire they brought today."

The Broncs return to action Saturday, Feb. 24, when they travel to Lehigh. First serve is scheduled for 8 a.m.