PRIDE RALLY FOR 5-4 WIN OVER LEOPARDS

WESTON, Mass. - The Regis College men's tennis team overcame an early 2-1 deficit to defeat the Wentworth Institute of Technology, 5-4, on Monday night in non-conference action. The Pride improve to 3-2 on the year, while Wentworth drops to 0-1.

The Leopards grabbed an early 2-1 lead by taking two of the three doubles matches. Matthew Smith (Pelham, N.H.) and Nate Schwartz (Chester Springs, Pa.) needed a tie-break to defeat Michael Beluch (Lynn, Mass.) and Jarid Polley (North Reading, Mass.) at No. 1 doubles, 9-8 (12-11). WIT's James Drum (Madison, Conn.) and Jeff Tocco (Plymouth, Mass.) handed Jeremy Morgenbesser (Bayport, N.Y.) and Chris Harrow (North Reading, Mass.) their first loss of the year at No. 2 doubles with an 8-3 win.

The Pride's lone win of doubles play came at the No. 3 position as Nathan Cohen (Randolph, Mass.) and Nick Hildreth (Harvard, Mass.) defeated Josh Dowd (Bristol, Conn.) and Mike Withington (Plymouth, Mass.), 8-3.

As the match turned to singles play, Jarid Polley and Scott Barrett (Burlington, Mass.) cruised to matching 6-1, 6-0, wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles to give Regis the 3-2 lead. Matthew Smith tied the match at 3-3 with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 win over Michael Beluch at No. 1 singles, while Matt Quattrociocchi defeated Jeff Tocco in back-to-back tie-breaks, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2), to put the Pride back on top.

James Drum needed three sets to defeat Chris Harrow at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, to knot the match at four points apiece. Jeremy Morgenbesser rebounded from a setback in the opening game of his No. 3 singles matchup with Nate Schwartz to win 0-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, and send the Pride home with the 5-4 victory.

Regis returns to action on Sunday afternoon when they host UMass Boston and Johnson & Wales University in back-to-back matches starting at 10:00 a.m. Wentworth travels to Bentley University for a 3:00 p.m. matchup on Saturday afternoon.