TEANECK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team dropped its second straight 4-3 decision, falling to NJIT on Saturday at the FDU Tennis Courts. With the victory, the Highlanders improve to 15-3 on the season, while the Knights fall to 5-6 overall.

NJIT took an early 1-0 lead after clinching the doubles' point. The Knights won at No. 1 doubles, with sophomore Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Language School) and senior Ibrahim Shams (Cairo, Egypt/Manor House) cruising to an 8-1 victory over Petr Rousar and Erik Artursson. Freshmen Markus Sjoberg (Tyreso, Sweden/Varmdo Gymnasium) and Julien Philippe (Paris, France/Saint Honoré d’Eylau) were narrowly defeated at No. 3 by Andres Alban and Fraser Croad, 9-8 (2).

In singles, each side won three matches. Shams had no problem at No. 2, defeating Holger Norregaard, 6-4, 6-1. Senior Mark Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) needed three sets to defeat Artursson, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, at No 4, while Sjoberg won in straight sets at No. 6, 6-1, 7-5, over Rousar. Berzins and senior Yuri Gricheno (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Amorim) each lost in three sets at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively.

“Today was a hard-fought match against a good opponent,” Head Coach Jonathan Buchman said. “We played around a bit with our lineup and figured something out to help us improve as a unit. I never like to lose, but I am encouraged by our play and where we are as a team.”

FDU will return to action on Wednesday, April 10 when it hosts Northeast Conference-rival Monmouth in its home and conference finale at 3 p.m. at the FDU Tennis Courts. Shams, Hemy, Gricheno and senior Peter Skvarka (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho) will all be honored before the match for senior day.