The Berkeley College men's tennis team (0-2 Overall, 0-1 HVIAC) began its Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference portion of the 2016 schedule on Saturday, falling to the Steels of Culinary Institute of America (3-2 Overall, 3-0 HVIAC) by a score of 8-1 in a match played at the Dutchess Racquet Club in Poughkeepsie, NY.

The Steels dominated doubles play, capturing all three flights to grab a 3-0 lead in the match. At No. 1 doubles, Culinary Institute of America's pair of Jeremy Sawyer and Daniel Juarez turned back Berkeley College's duo of Victor Marotta and Sebastian Rousseau, 8-5. The No. 2 flight featured the Steels' Jonghee Lee and Nathaniel Putman defeating the Knights' Andrea Massignani and Rajah Ulrich Mopoundza 8-1, and Culinary's Alanah Ivans and Elee Hampton solidified victory at No. 3 doubles, silencing Berkeley's Alexander Maurmann and Prince Ngakala, 8-2.

When play switched over to singles, Culinary Institute of America captured five of the six flights to put the match away. The Steels' Jonghee Lee defeated Rousseau 10-2 at No. 2 flight singles, and Culinary's Daniel Juarez shutout Massignani 10-0 at No. 3. Culinary Institute also picked up victories at No. 4 (Putman beat Mopoundza 10-0), No. 5 (Brynne Schlicher defeated Maurmann, 10-2) and No. 6 (Cassidy Seo blanked Ngakala, 10-0).

Berkeley College's lone victory on the day came at the No. 1 singles flight, where Marotta put away Sawyer, 10-3.

The Knights will look to pick up their first victory on Tuesday, April 12, as Berkeley will travel to Madison, NJ to battle Drew University. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 5:00pm.