NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's tennis team opened the 2019 portion of its season with a 9-0 loss to Western New England on Friday evening in non-conference action at Shapiro Field House.

Norwich (0-2) failed to pickup a victory in its home opener and fell to Western New England for the fourth straight season.

The No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Alexi Gilmore (Haverhill, Mass.) and senior Sam Beiter (Youngstown, N.Y.) came the closest to winning a point, leading for a majority of their doubles match vs. Justin Kohut and David Kalmer. However, the Western New England team won three of the last four games to pull away for the victory. 

Junior Dylan Ackerman (Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands) and freshman Timothy Santy (San Antonio, Texas) fell 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, while sophomores Noah Stillman (Danbury, Conn.) and Abbie Barker (Warren, Vt.) lost at No. 3 doubles 8-2. 

Western New England (2-0) kept the momentum rolling in doubles, winning every match in straight sets. Beiter won the most games of any Norwich player at No. 3 singles, falling 6-2 and 6-1 to Luke Sarawski. 

Norwich will look to win its first match of the season on Wednesday, March 6 when the Cadets host Castleton University at 4 p.m.