HILTON HEAD, S.C. - Penn State Harrisburg's men's tennis team dropped a hard-fought 4-3 battle against Alfred at the Spring Lake Racquet Club on Tuesday afternoon, March 10.


The Lions (1-3) took the doubles decision thanks to the top duo of Cooper Wheeler and Damir Cuturic, along with the No. 2 squad of Ved Pawar and Ian Opitz. Wheeler and Cuturic earned a 6-3 victory over Ricardo Alvarez Janik and Anlun Zwerver, while Pawar and Opitz topped Breece Erickson and Andrew Lopez Jimenez 6-4 in their matchup. In the No. 3 contest, Colin Flack and Andrew Lines fell to Matthew Bittel and Josh Erickson 6-2.


In singles action, Alfred (2-2) won 4 of the 6 pairings which ultimately earned the team the overall victory by the slimmest of margins. Pawar made way of Lopez Jimenez 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 2 spot, while Michael Rivino rounded out the singles victories for Penn State Harrisburg with a three-set 7-6, 2-6, 10-6 thriller over Zwerver in the No. 4 slot. Elsewhere, Cuturic was bested by Alvarez Janik 6-3, 6-3 in the top contest and Opitz was unable to defeat B. Erickson in a 6-1, 6-0 No. 3 contest. The Saxons' Brittel and J. Erickson topped Flack and John McCarthy in the No. 5 and No. 6 matches, respectively.


Penn State Harrisburg is back in action on Wednesday, March 18 for a non-conference match at West Chester.


Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg men's and women's tennis all season long on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) by following the Lions using the handle @pshbgtennis.