GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah College men's tennis team defeated Stevenson in a thrilling match on Tuesday afternoon. The match went until sun-down and the Falcons picked up a 5-4 victory over the Mustangs.

In doubles action, Messiah went 1-2 against Stevenson. No. 1 doubles Tim Dunn and Connor Graybeal were trailing early but fought back to win their match 9-7. Galen Fitzkee and Keller Martin (no. 3 doubles) competed well but dropped their match 8-6, while Alex Mantsevich and Andrew Bookman were defeated 8-2.

Messiah went 4-2 in singles play to secure the victory. Galen Fitzkee got things started for the Falcons in the no.3 spot and defeated his opponent 6-2,6-0. Tim Dunn (no. 1) trailed early and lost the first set 1-6, however he bounced back and won sets two and three (6-4, 7-6) to give Messiah another win in singles action. Andrew Bookman had a slow start in his match and trailed 4-6 early. Bookman responded in dominating fashion to win the next two sets 6-1, 6-2. Bryson Boettger was the other Falcon to find success in singles play. Boettger also trailed early (3-6) and won the second set pretty easily (6-3). The third set was a battle and went into a tiebreaker, Boettger secured the 7-6 (7-5) victory in the final set to win the match for Messiah.

The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday, Apr. 14 when they travel to Albright College for a 1:00 p.m. start.