Utica, NY – The Utica College men's tennis team starts off a three-match home stand on Wednesday against Hartwick College. This Empire 8 matchup is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers traveled to Alfred, NY over this past weekend to battle Alfred University. The Saxons swept the match earning the 9-0 victory. Joshua Palmer (Southington, CT/Wilcox Technical) nearly took a set in his fifth singles matchup before falling 6-2, 7-6. Christian Carman (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) lost the fourth singles heat 7-6, 6-2 before joining Palmer in doubles for an 8-3 loss.
 
Conference Standings: UC is holding an overall record and E8 conference record of 0-4 at this point of the season. Utica is one of two teams without out a win within the conference. The full Empire 8 standings are as follows: 1. Stevens (4-0 E8), 2. Hartwick (3-1 E8), 3. St. John Fisher (3-1 E8), 4. Elmira (2-1 E8), 5. Nazareth (2-2 E8), 6. Houghton (1-1 E8), 7. Alfred (1-2 E8), 8. Sage (0-4 E8), 9. Utica (0-4 E8).
 
Scouting Hartwick: The Hawks are 5-1 overall this year and 3-1 against Empire 8 opponents. Hartwick took down the Soaring Eagles from Elmira the last time out, 7-2, on the road. The team swept Elmira in double play, as the duos of John Talbot/Nikola Nedeljkovic, Nick Adamou/Jack Steinman, and Tyler Adler/Casey Serdiouk all won their matchups. Nedeljkovic, Steinman, Serdiouk, and Adler all won their heats in singles play as well. The Hawks have now won two matches in a row heading into the meeting with UC.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers are at home again over the weekend, as they host Oswego on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and Houghton College on Saturday for a 1 p.m. start. Then on Sunday the team travels to face Oswego again at 1 p.m. on the road.