ORLANDO, Fla.—The Hobart College tennis team opened its Spring Break trip with a split of its matches today at the USTA National Campus. The Statesmen defeated Salisbury 7-2 this morning before dropping a tightly contested match to Colorado College 6-3 in the afternoon. Hobart is now 4-4 in dual matches this season.
 
Against the Sea Gulls, the Statesmen took a 2-1 lead out of doubles play. In the No. 1 spot, Jett Wright and Sean Pesin knocked off Brad Pappalardo and Gianluca Beaujon, 8-5. Thomas Shung and Jack Ledford cruised to an 8-4 victory over Mitchell Desman and Jhayden Pappas in the No. 3 spot. Salisbury (3-5) earned its doubles point squeaking out an 8-4 (7-4) victory in the No. 2 spot.
 
In singles play, Hobart won five of the seven matches to secure the overall victory. The Statesmen won four of the five points in straight sets. Winter Fagerberg knocked off Pappalardo, 6-4, 6-1, logging his sixth win of the season. Lyu cruised past Russell Willenborg, 6-3, 6-0. With the win, Lyu is now 7-6 on the season. Hyat Oyer topped Luke McMullen, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), in the No. 4 spot. It was Oyer's seventh win of the year. Rahul Vallabhajosula extended his winning streak to two matches when he beat Wayne Russell, 6-4, 6-3, in the No. 6 spot. Vallabhajosula is 3-1 this season. Troy Steiner collected a win in the closest match of the day. He edged Gianluca Beaujon, 6-2, 6-4, 10-7, in the No. 3 spot.
 
The Statesmen also took a 2-1 lead after doubles play against Colorado College (6-4).  Wright and Pesin improved to 2-0 on the day with an 8-2 win over Jack Delarfield and Andrew Kaelin. Wright and Pesin are 2-1 as a duo. Steiner and Lyu bested Alex Kley and Lucas Pastor, 8-5. Lyu and Steiner are 6-2 in doubles matches. The Tigers earned their point in the No. 3 spot with an 8-7 (7-3) victory.
 
Jacob Linares earned the Statesmen's singles point, besting Jack Delarfield, 7-5, 6-3. Fagerberg, Shung and Ledford were edged in closely contested matches. Fagerberg was tripped up by Aiden Little, 6-3, 5-7, 10-5, in the No. 1 spot. Shung dropped a heartbreaking decision to Lucas Pastor, 3-6, 6-2, 16-14, in the No. 4 spot. Ledford was bested by Nate Beerman, 6-1, 2-6, 10-2. 
 
Hobart will be back in action tomorrow, March 22, when it takes on Trinity and Luther at the USTA National Campus. The Statesmen will take on the Bantams at 8 a.m. and the Norse at 3 p.m.