The Utica College men's tennis team lost in a tight match to Hartwick College 8-1 Wednesday at the Hartwick tennis courts. The Pioneers played strong in singles and doubles play but were only able to muster up one win.

The loss drops the Pioneers to 0-2 overall, with both losses coming in conference play, while the Hawks were able to jump to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

The Pioneers Shaun Kaleta and Thien Doan dominated in doubles play and got the lone win of the day 8-4, while Mike Zaloom and Gonzalo Salama lost a nail biter to Hartwick's Sean Barr and Mike del Rosario 8-6.

UC played strong in singles play but lost two tie-breakers to the Hawks. After losing his first set 7-5, Thien Doan came back to take the second match 7-6. Hartwick's Peter Dumas stole the tie-breaker 7-4. The Pioneer's Gonzalo Salama forced a tie breaker on Bobby Amberson after winning the second match 6-2, but was unable to capture the victory losing the final set 8-6.

The Pioneers will look to earn their first victory of the season as they take on Nazareth College on Thursday. The match is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Utica College tennis courts.

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