BOX SCORE

HOBOKEN, N.J.-The 31st-ranked Swarthmore College men's tennis team (0-1) lost narrowly to #25 Stevens Institute of Technology, 5-4, in its spring campaign opener on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

The Garnet took an early lead, capturing two of the three doubles matches. Sophomore Blake Oetting and junior John Larkin secured the first team point at the No. 3 position, defeating Charles Drake and Kyle Cenderelli, 8-5. The No. 2 pair of freshman Simon Vernier and sophomore Ari Cepelewicz then notched a 9-7 victory over Kyle Henry and Danny Polk.

While Stevens won singles matches at No. 3, 4, and 5, Swarthmore nearly rallied to complete the match. A double winner on the day, Larkin soundly defeated Polk at No. 2 in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0.  In a thrilling, three-set match at No. 1, sophomore Mark Fallati prevailed over Matthew Heinrich, ranked 11th in the nation by the ITA, by a score of 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.  Stevens clinched the match with a win by default at No. 6, once sophomore Josh Powell retired after splitting sets with William Persson.

Swarthmore resumes match play on Saturday, Feb. 27 against New York University.  Action will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the Mullan Indoor Tennis Center.