Fordham Men’s Tennis competed in their first matches of the new year this past weekend, taking a trip up to New England to face Brown University and Dartmouth College. The Rams were ultimately swept in both contests by a score of 7-0, falling to 0-2 on the young season.

In Providence, Fordham put up a good fight against Brown despite failing to win a set. Three different Rams took a game to tiebreak, but all were eventually defeated. Graduate student Quinn Fender fell to Noah Hernandez 7-6, 6-3, junior Toi Kobayashi came up short against Oliver Worth 6-0, 7-6 and freshman Sampras Rakotondrainibe lost against Sam Feldman 6-1, 7-6. This marks the second consecutive season that Fordham was swept at the hands of Brown.

Fordham’s fortunes weren’t much better against Dartmouth in Hannover on Sunday. The Big Green came into the matchup at 4-0, including impressive sweeps against Navy and Siena College. Like against Brown, no Ram managed to win a set. Freshman Dhillon Virdee-Oakley was the only Fordham player to win more than three games in a set, as he fell to Henry Ren 6-1, 6-4.

This is Fordham’s first season under head coach David Slater. The Rams went 6-10 in an uneven 2021-22 season under Nelson Peña that saw them lose six consecutive matches between February and April. They’ll certainly want to improve their fortunes in 2023. Fordham’s roster currently consists of two graduate students, four juniors and two freshmen. With the departure of Second Team All-Atlantic 10 player Tom Russwurm as well as other key contributors, Fordham will need new faces to step up as their regular season schedule kicks into gear.

Next up, the Rams will play in their first home match of the season at the Life Time Athletic Center in Harrison, N.Y. against Fairfield University on Saturday, Feb. 4.