Box Score SALEM, Mass. - Sophomore Alex Maldonado (Danbury, Conn.) won in singles and doubles but the visiting Western Connecticut State University Wolves dropped a 4-3 decision against the Salem State University Vikings in Little East Conference (LEC) men's tennis action on an unseasonably cold afternoon.  WestConn falls to 0-6 and Salem State improves to 3-1.  The Wolves will welcome the Albertus Magnus College Falcons in their home opener on Monday, March 30 at 3:30 p.m.

The doubles point came down to the wire.  Maldonado and classmate Henry Gsell (Bridgewater, Conn.) swept the third doubles match, 6-0.  After a Salem State win at the top of the doubles ladder, WestConn sophomores Jack Buck (New Fairfield, Conn.) and Jose Zambrano (Danbury, Conn.) built a 5-2 lead at second doubles but saw it dwindle to 6-5 before losing the last two points to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

The teams played on just three courts, and Salem State took a 2-1 lead with a straight-sets victory at the No. 3 spot.  At second singles, Buck won his first set and held leads of 5-4 and 6-5 in the second but lost, 7-6, and then, 6-4, in the third to give the home team a 3-1 lead.  At the top of the ladder, Wolves senior Aidan Burke (Wilton, Conn.) nursed a 5-2 lead in the third set, but the match went to a tiebreaker and Salem State clinched the match with that win.  WestConn salvaged the day with its bottom half, as Maldonado, Araujo and sophomore Axel Javier (Danbury, Conn.) each picked up victories, including a three-setter at fourth singles by Maldonado.

"There were far too many opportunities lost today in several of the matches," said WestConn Head Coach Shawn Stillman. "We had 5-2 leads in the decisive set for two of the matches and didn't convert.  If one of those bounced our way, we win the match. But that's tennis. The pressure builds and can get in the way of our best performance. Today's match is a good learning experience for the team."