WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Messiah men's tennis team wrapped up the 2019 Middle Atlantic Conference Individual Tennis Championships on Sunday afternoon with two doubles teams and three singles competing in the championships. Messiah saw one doubles team advance to the finals of their bracket and three singles players compete in the semifinals on Sunday.
Sunday, Oct. 13 Update
Messiah dropped all five of their matches on Sunday.
AJ Swanson and
Connor Rose competed in the No. 4 doubles Championship, but fell by an 8-1 final against Kincaid/Li of Stevens. Also in doubles play,
Bryson Boettger and
Ellis Martin saw their tournament come to a close in the No. 3 bracket with an 8-2 setback against Kanevsky/Krishnan from Stevens. The Stevens Ducks claimed all four doubles brackets as well as all seven singles brackets for a clean sweep in the tournament.
In the singles brackets, Messiah had
Alex Mantsevich (No. 2),
Ellis Martin (No. 6), and
Keller Martin (No. 7) in action. After earning an upset over third-seeded Larry Scartz on Saturday, Mantzevich could not replicate the performance against the second-seeded Ray McDermott from Stevenson, falling in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
Like Mantzevich,
Ellis Martin was unable to earn a second upset in as many days, falling 6-2, 6-1 to third-seeded Luke Senft from Lebanon Valley in the semifinals. In No. 7 singles,
Keller Martin dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Lebanon Valley's Brendan Byler in the semifinals as well.
Saturday Oct. 12 Update
The Messiah men's tennis team began the MAC Individual Tennis Championships on Saturday with a pair of doubles teams advancing into Sunday's play. In singles action, Messiah had
Alex Mantsevich (No. 2),
Ellis Martin (No. 6), and
Keller Martin (No. 7) advance to Sunday's semifinals and
Andrew Bookman (No. 1),
Jarod Snader (No. 3), and Bryson Bottger (No. 4) compete in the quarterfinals this afternoon.
During the morning doubles session, the Messiah team of
AJ Swanson and
Connor Rose moved into the No. 4 doubles finals. Swanson/Rose earned an 8-2 victory over the team of Tamesis/Wilkinson from Arcadia to get their day started in the first round. In the semifinals, Swanson/Rose squared off with the Lebanon Valley team of Harriger/Yenser, but dropped just one set en route to an 8-1 victory, moving them into the finals. On Sunday, Swanson/Rose will face Kincaid/Li from Stevens for the No. 4 doubles championship.
In the No. 3 doubles bracket, the fourth-seeded Messiah team of
Bryson Boettger and
Ellis Martin also moved into Sunday with a victory in the quarterfinals. After earning a bye through the first round, Boettger/E. Martin faced the Alvernia team of Sabau/Boltz and earned a comfortable 8-1 victory. A date with the top-seeded Stevens' team of Kanevsky/Krishna awaits the Falcons tomorrow in the Semifinals.
In singles play, Messiah had three advance into the semifinals on Sunday with
Alex Mantsevich (No. 2),
Ellis Martin (No. 6), and
Keller Martin (No. 7) all surviving the opening day. In the No. 2 bracket, Mantsevich turned in the performance of the day for the Falcons, knocking off third-seeded Larry Scartz from Wilkes in the opening round. Mantsevich dropped the opening set 6-3, but battled back to win the second set 7-5 and the match tiebreaker 10-6 to advance to the quarterfinals. In his second match of the day, he kept the momentum going with a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Austin Mackey from King's. Mantsevich will face the second-seeded Ray McDermott from Stevenson in the semifinals tomorrow.
In the No. 6 singles bracket,
Ellis Martin turned in a pair of straight-set victories over Francis Tamesis (Arcadia) in the opening round and second-seeded Jolen Nortey (Wilkes) in the quarterfinals to advance to Sunday. First Martin topped Tamesis 6-3, 6-3 before dropping Nortey 6-4, 6-1 to move into the semifinals against Luke Senft from Lebanon Valley on Sunday.
Keller Martin was the third Falcon to punch his ticket into Sunday's singles play with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Dylan Gettier (Stevenson) in the quarterfinals. Earlier in the day, Martin took down Wilkes' Connor Murphy in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2. Martin will take on Lebanon Valley's Brendan Byler in the semifinals with a trip to the finals on the line.
Messiah also had three other Falcons appear in the quarterfinals on Saturday with
Bryson Boettger earning a dominating 6-1, 6-0 victory over Ethan Snyder (Misericordia) in the opening round of the No. 4 bracket. In No. 3 singles,
Jarod Snader also picked up a strong victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Nick Harth (King's) to move into the quarterfinals.
In the top singles bracket,
Andrew Bookman earned a victory in his opening round match against Joni Carasso (FDU-Florham) by a 6-4, 6-1 final.
Messiah's two doubles teams and three singles that remain will wrap-up the MAC Championships tomorrow in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The action begins at 9:00 a.m. with fans being able to follow results at the brackets listed above.
