OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The Messiah College men's tennis team's season came to an end after they dropped the MAC Commonwealth Championship match 5-1 to Stevenson University on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons entered the conference tournament as the third-seed and upset the Alvernia Golden Wolves 5-4 in the semifinals, however the top-seeded Mustangs continued their winning ways and earned their first-ever MAC Commonwealth title. Messiah ended the season with an overall record of 7-11 and finished 4-2 in conference play.

How It Happened
The Falcons dropped two early matches in the No. 2 (8-1) and No. 3 (8-1) doubles spots, however No. 1 doubles had tight and exciting match. Galen Fitzkee and Andrew Bookman battled well for Messiah and secured an 8-6 victory over Stevenson's Ray McDermott and Drew Ryan.

Messiah returned to the courts for singles play but they dropped three-straight matches which brought their season to an end. No. 2 singles was the first match to finish and Alex Mantsevich was defeated 6-1. 6-2. No. 6 AJ Swanson kept it close in the second set, winning four games, however he fell to Larry Johnson III 6-3, 6-4 to give the Mustangs their fourth point of the day. The last match to finish was No. 4 singles in which Bryson Boettger had a strong start but wasn't able to hold on, falling to his opponent 6-4, 6-3.

Up Next
Overall, the Falcons had a great season and made it to the Conference Championship as a No. 3 seed. Messiah's season comes to a close, however the Falcons will be back in action next fall.