PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne men's tennis team dropped matches to Northern Kentucky and Navy this past weekend at the Alpha Tennis and Fitness Center.
 
The Dukes were edged out 4-3 by Northern Kentucky on Saturday, before bowing out 7-0 to the U.S. Naval Academy on Sunday.
 
The match with the Norse came down to the final match of the evening and started with a tight doubles result.

Duquesne opened with a win at No. 2 doubles, before Northern Kentucky claimed the No. 3 position, which left the No. 1 doubles match as the deciding point. Despite battling to a 5-5 score, the Dukes came up short (7-5) and allowed the Norse to earn the doubles point in the ledger.
 
Jin Dassanyayke got Duquesne into the win column at No. 3 singles with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win. Alex Mascioli and Bode Vance earned hard-fought three-set wins at No. 2 and No. 5 singles, respectively. Mascioli won 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, while Vance setup a winner-take-all match at No. 6 singles when he won his match 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
 
The winner-take-all match at No. 6 singles went three sets and had tiebreakers in each of the first two sets. Despite trailing 5-1 in the deciding set, Liam Wickwire managed to battle back to 5-4, before eventually succumbing to a 6-4 score in the deciding third set which clinched Northern Kentucky's win.
 
Navy, who improved to 14-3 on the season, proved to be a formidable foe for the Dukes on Sunday. After taking all three doubles matches, the Midshipmen won four of the singles matches by straight-sets to defeat Duquesne.
 
The Dukes return to play the week of March 6-13 when they travel south to Florida for their annual Spring Break trip. The team will play multiple matches while down in the Sunshine State.