NORTH RIDGEVLLE – The Franciscan men's tennis team's dropped a pair of 9-0 non-conference matches in their first two matches of the spring semester to Earlham and Wooster, Saturday evening.
 
In the first match of the day, the Barons squared off against Earlham College at the North Ridgeville Tennis & Golf Club. The No. 3 doubles pair of Walter Matt and Billy Presume provided a tough match for the Earlham opponents but ultimately fell, 8-6. Gary Pierre and Giorgio Alexander lost at No. 1 doubles 8-4 while Luke Conrad and Jack Galla dropped the No. 2 doubles match, 8-2.
 
In singles, Pierre battled at the No. 1 spot but could not get the win and lost to Alexsandr Sergeev, 6-2, 6-3. Presume also had a good battle at the No. 4 spot but ultimately fell 6-2, 6-2.
 
In the second match of the day, Presume and Aiden Howard kept their Wooster opponents at No. 3 doubles on their toes but could not pull out the win and fell 8-4 in the final doubles match.
 
Howard took his first set in the No. 6 singles match to 13 games, but lost 7-5 before falling 6-0 in the second set. Conrad pushed his No. 3 singles match to a pair of 6-4 sets but could not break through as he dropped both sets.
 
The Barons look to rebound as they head to Orlando, Florida for spring break for their next string of matches. Franciscan opens the week on March 10 as they face off against St. Scholastica at the USTA National Campus.