Results Grantham, PA - Messiah College took two of three doubles and their first three singles to collect a quick 5 wins and defeat Lebanon Valley in the Commonwealth Semifinals on Friday. The win pushed the Falcons into the Championship match tomorrow, May 3 when they'll play host to No. 3 Elizabethtown. The match will start at 3:30 p.m.
Peter Shuck and
Zachary Brunner were the first to finish their doubles match from the No. 2 spot. Shuck and Brunner quickly got out to a 5-1 lead on Sam Calabria and Cody Manmiller but were nearly caught when the score reached 6-5. Shuck and Brunner finished out the match well though, and won with an 8-5 score.
Finishing closely behind the No. 2 doubles pair was the No. 1 duo of
Michael Brookhart and
David Wichert. The Dutchmen broke serve in the first game to put the Falcons on their heels. However, Brookhart and Wichert brought the match back in their favor shortly after and won 8-4.
"Dave and I weren't necessarily on our game today but we adapted well," said Brookhart after their doubles match. "No matter what the score was in the game or the match, we kept our heads."
Michael Kovacs and
Dustin Innerst played well from the No. 3 doubles but at the end Andrew Wilson and Jonathan Hastings got an edge and won 8-6.
From the singles matches, Wichert quickly dispatched Jordan Shankroff 6-0, 6-1. Innerst followed suit shortly after and defeated Hastings 6-1, 6-0.
Devin Esch finished off the overall win by taking care of Andrew Wilson 6-2, 6-2.
The remaining matches were closely contested, with
Christopher Brittingham's match going into a third set. Brookhart had won his first set before the necessary five points were earned for the Falcons' win.
Continue to follow Messiah as they take on the Blue Jays tomorrow in Grantham.
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