GRANTHAM, Pa. - In their first match of the season, the Messiah men's tennis team fell to York College 5-4 on Saturday afternoon. Bryson Boettger, Jarod Snader, and Connor Rose all picked up single's victories for the Falcons while the No. 3 doubles team of Boettger and Ellis Martin picked up a double's victory for Messiah. The Falcons finish up their fall slate when they travel to Swarthmore College on Oct. 5 to take on the Garnet at 11:00 a.m.

Doubles Battle
In No. 3 doubles, Boettger and Ellis Martin were the lone Falcons to pick up a match victory. The duo battled into a tie breaker with York's Jack Lienbach and Josiah Forry, but were on the right side of an 8-7 (9) victory in the match. On the top court, Andrew Bookman and Snader picked up four games in No. 1 doubles, but suffered an 8-4 setback. Alex Mantsevich and Keller Martin claimed three games at No. 2 doubles, but fell 8-3 to the York team of Tyler Richard and Justin Rose.

Three Singles Wins
Trailing 2-1 heading into singles play, the Falcons picked up straight-set wins in a trio of singles matches. In No. 6 singles freshman Connor Rose earned a 6-1, 6-3 victory over York's Jack Lienbach. At No. 5 singles Jarod Snader dropped just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Terrence McNeil. Boettger claimed his first set 6-3 against Justin Rose in No. 4 singles, before winning the match in a second set tiebreaker. Boettger claimed the tiebreaker 7-2 to win the set 7-6 (2).

Despite dropping the top three courts, Messiah did earn set victories from Bookman (No. 3 singles) and Galen Fitzkee (No. 1 singles).

What's Up Next
The Falcons will play their final match of the fall season on Oct. 5 when they head to Swarthmore College for a 11:00 a.m. match up with the Garnet.