Utica, NY (4-11-13) – The Utica College men's tennis team heads to Pittsford, NY this weekend for an Empire 8 Conference match against Nazareth College … The competition is set for 1 p.m. at the Nazareth Tennis Courts.

Off to a Hot Start: The Pioneers are currently 3-1 overall including a 0-1 mark in league play and off to their best start in recent years … UC opened up the 2012-13 season with three-of-four wins, all on its home court … Utica defeated Cazenovia and Oswego St. in back-to-back matches to start the year before losing to Elmira, 9-0, in the conference opener ... On Saturday, the squad bounced back with a convincing, 8-1, win over The Sage Colleges … The Pioneers now open up a stretch of four straight Empire 8 matches including three away from home.

Last Time Out: The Utica College men's tennis team bounced back from its first loss of the year with a convincing 8-1 victory over visiting Sage College on Monday afternoon at the UC tennis courts … Gorman won first singles (6-0, 6-1) and teamed up with Daniel Fadden (Lakeland, NY/Bishop Ludden)  to take home another team point in first doubles (8-1) … Zaloom defeated Sage's Cory Alvarado 6-1, 6-1 in second singles, while teaming up with two-sport athlete (swimming) Raphael Warnon (Rock Tavern, NY/Washingtonville ) to earn an 8-0 win in second doubles … Fadden defeated Mark Castillo in fourth singles, 6-0, 6-1 and Rogers wrapped the Pioneers' final point in sixth singles with a convincing 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Alex Fernandez.

The Pioneers: Throughout the first four matches this season, senior Mike Zaloom (Utica, NY/TR Proctor High School ) and junior Daniel Fadden (Lakeland, NY/Bishop Ludden) lead the way with three wins apiece while sophomore Jon Gorman (South Kingstown, RI/South Kingstown), senior Sam Cotrupe (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro High School ) and freshman Matt Rogers (East Syracuse, NY/Bishop Ludden) all have tallied two wins each in singles competition …

Golden Flyer Report: Nazareth presently holds an overall record of 3-8 on the season including an undefeated mark of 2-0 in E8 play … After opening up the season 0-5, the Golden Flyers picked up their first win of the 2012-13 season in on Mar. 14th in Hilton Head, South Carolina against Shepard University (WV) … Naz fell back upon hard times losing three consecutive matches from March 15th through April 5th before getting back on track with back-to-back wins in conference play against Hartwick (4/6/13) and St. John Fisher (4/9/13).