SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — 

The United States Coast Guard Academy tennis team were victims of a 2-5 loss on Tuesday, April 7th, at New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foes Springfield College. The Bears' two points on the afternoon came from singles wins.

Coast Guard moves to 1-5 on the season and 1-3 in conference play, while Springfield improves to 7-5 overall and stays undefeated against league opponents at 3-0. The Pride will face non-conference action for their next one on Thursday, April 9th, against Farmingdale State College (3-4).

The Bears were swept at doubles to start the day. Ben Bonetto (Bend, Oreg.) and Brendan Love (Winchester, Va.) fell, 5-7, at #1 to Tim Norin and Ethan Gomulka. #2 saw the closest 2-on-2 match with Noah Reice (Wilmington, Del.) and Konnor Eslinger (St. Charles, Mo.) on the wrong end of a 6-7 result against Phakin Thongboonchareon and Akito Shimamura.

Love and Reice picked up Coast Guard's two points with a pair of three-set singles wins. Love played Shimamura at #3 and took an early lead with a 6-3 first set, but the Pridesman evened it up by blanking his opponent in the second. The senior from Virginia put it away with a 6-2 tiebreaker.

On #6, Reice was down early to Emiliano Montenegro Galarza following a 4-6 opening set, but the Bear made it 1-1 by going 6-1 in the second. Reice was able to put it away in the tiebreaker despite a relentless effort from his opponent, winning the third set with a 10-8 score.

Bears tennis is back returns home on Thursday, April 9th, in their biggest match of the season against their archrivals from the United States Merchant Marine Academy (4-1). The stakes are high for the meeting, as the victor will claim the 2025-26 Superintendents' Trophy for their respective school. The score sits locked at 8-8-1 heading into Thursday.