Men's Box Score -
Women's Box Score
Reading, PA - The Messiah College men's tennis team took a 9-0 decision over Albright on Saturday, with the women dropping a hard-fought 4-5 match.
For the men, the match concludes a 7-5 regular season that included a 5-2 Commonwealth Conference record. The team finishes third in the conference in the standings, and seems prepared to travel to Lebanon Valley College on Wednesday, May 2, for the semifinals of the Commonwealth Championships. Full details on the brackets for the conference tournament are yet to be confirmed.
On Saturday, the Falcons got off to a quick start over the Lions with 8-0, 8-1, 8-0 finishes in the doubles. In the singles match-up, number one Michale Brookhart followed up a 6-0 first set with a 6-4 victory over the Lions' Ruicong Lui.
Andrew Wismer (6-2, 6-2) took a win over Ian Moore in the number two singles.
From there, the Falcons showed their depth and dominance as
David Wichert,
Peter Shuck,
Zachary Brunner, and Chris Brittingham comed for five sets of 6-0 and two others of 6-1.
The women took the number three doubles behind
Jennifer Kitlan and Michelle Curis (8-2), falling 4-5 after splitting the six singles match-ups.
Ellen Harpold, Kitland, and Curtis all won their match-ups as Messiah's four, five, and six players. The Lion's top player proved to be the difference for the hosts.
"Overall, I'm pretty pleased with these girls," Messiah head coach
Jon Arosell said. "Our young players like Kitlan and Curtis really played well in their doubles and singles. That bodes well for their future and the future of our program."
It appears that the Falcons' women will narrowly miss the Commonwealth Championships, even if Alvernia loses their Saturday match; with Alvernia holding the tiebreaker over Messiah, the Falcons' 2-4 conference record can at best lead to a tiebreaker loss to the Crusaders for the final spot in the four-team postseason tournament.
"We've had a few close losses that could prove to be the difference," Arosell said, referring to 4-5 losse to both Alvernia and Albright. "Those losses show how each set we play is important."
"I do think we took some steps forward this year, especially with our camaraderie and skill development," Arosell continued. "We're hoping to build into a contender in this league, and I believe we'll look back on this year as a starting point."
The Commonwealth Championships for the men are set to start on Wednesday, May 2. More information on final seedings, times, and locations for the tournament will be announced on Monday.
