EWING, NJ – The University of Rochester men's tennis team was able to split singles matches 3-3 against the 29th-ranked College of New Jersey on Friday, but succumbed in all three doubles matches and thus dropped a 6-3 decision on Saturday afternoon at the TCNJ Recreation Center.
 
The loss is UR's second straight to a nationally ranked opponent and drops the teams record to 11-4 on the season.  The host Lions improve to 13-2 on the season.
 
In doubles, TCNJ picked up all three points which proved to be the difference in the match.  At #1, it was a showdown between two regionally ranked pairs.  TNCJ's Matthew Michibata and Tim Gavornik earned the win by an 8-1 score over UR's Masaru Fujimaki and Runjia Fang.
 
At #3, Rochester's Yifan Shen and Peter Huang lost a tight 8-6 decision to Andrew Mok and Matt Puig.  The Lions completed the sweep in doubles when Mitchel Sanders and Gokul Murugesean won 8-4 over Pasquale Procaccino and Sahaj Somani at #2.
 
Rochester's Shen earned the first point in singles following a 6-4, 6-1 win at #3 over Justin Wain.
 
The Lions would then take the next two points though, earning the overall match win.  Sanders topped Fujimaki 6-3, 7-5 at #1 and Michibata earned a three set (1-6, 6-4, 6-1) win over Fang to clinch the match at #2.
 
Tanmay Thakkar won his match in three sets at #4 over Gavornik to give Rochester a second point on the day.  The UR co-captain rallied after dropping the first set 6-1, to win 6-3 and 6-4 to earn the victory.
 
The final two decisions were split 1-1 amongst the teams.  Puig defeated Somani 6-3, 6-4 at #5, while Mark Zolotukhin won in straight sets over Mikhael Kadyrkaev, 6-4, 6-0, for his third straight win.
 
Rochester will next play another road contest against UAA rival NYU on Sunday at the Stadium Tennis Center in the Bronx.