The Utica College men's tennis team dropped their season opener versus conference rival Ithaca College on Friday. The Pioneers struggled in singles and doubles play, and were unable to win a match losing to the Bombers 9-0.

The loss puts the Pioneers 0-1 overall and in conference play. The Bombers were able to win their first conference game versus UC while they jump to 7-2 overall.

After losing his first match 6-1 in singles play, the Pioneer's Josh Turner made it a close one but lost his second match 6-3 to Josh Rifkin.

In doubles play, Gonzalo Salama and Mike Zaloom (Utica, NY/TR Proctor High School ) were able to take three games from the Bombers, but lost the match to Dan Adelman and Dan Levine 8-3.

The Pioneers will be on the road Wednesday as they challenge Empire 8 rival Hartwick College. The match is expected to start at 4 p.m. at the Hartwick tennis courts. The Hawks are currently 1-2 overall.

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