ST. DAVID'S, Pa. - The Messiah College men's tennis team traveled to Eastern University on Tuesday afternoon and defeated the Eagles 8-1. The Falcons had a strong start to the afternoon and swept doubles play 3-0. Messiah continued to dominate in singles action and claimed five out of the six matches.

How It Happened
Galen Fitzkee and Andrew Bookman picked up the Falcons' first win in the top doubles spot, defeating their opponent 8-2. No. 2 Alex Mantsevich/Bryson Boettger and No. 3 Jarod Snader and AJ Swanson also secured victories in their matches 8-5 and 8-4, respectively.

In singles play, Cody Fitzwater got things going with an impressive 6-1, 6-0 win over Eastern's Jacob Craig. No. 1 Galen Fitzkee also had a quick match, defeating his opponent 6-2, 6-0. Bryson Boettger battled in his match at the No. 3 slot. He won the first set 7-6, but fell in the second set 3-6. However, he was able to come back and win the tie-breaker 10-2. Alex Mantsevich (6-4, 6-1) and Jarod Snader (6-4, 6-2) were also able to secure wins for Messiah in singles action.

Up Next
Messiah will host their spring home-opener this Saturday, Apr. 6 against MAC Commonwealth opponent Arcadia University. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.

Messiah Defeats Eastern - 8-1
Singles
#1 - Galen Fitzkee (MESSM) def. Nick Humes (EU) 6-2, 6-0
#2 - Alex Mantsevich (MESSM) def. Ryan Hamilton (EU) 6-4, 6-1
#3 - Bryson Boettger (MESSM) def. Cole Patti (EU) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-2
#4 - Jarod Snader (MESSM) def. Karl Finkbeiner (EU) 6-4, 6-2
#5 - Nick Wool (EU) def. AJ Swanson (MESSM) 7-5, 6-0
#6 - Cody Fitzwater (MESSM) def. Jacob Craig (EU) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
#1 - Galen Fitzkee/Andrew Bookman (MESSM) def. Ryan Hamilton/Karl Finkbeiner (EU) 8-2
#2 - Alex Mantsevich/Bryson Boettger (MESSM) def. Cole Patti/Nick Wool (EU) 8-5
#3 - Jarod Snader/AJ Swanson (MESSM) def. Nick Humes/Shaun Kline (EU) 8-4