GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's and women's tennis teams were back in action this past weekend when the two teams joined forces for an intersquad scrimmage. Sun and clear skies greeted the teams for the 3:00 p.m. start time at Criste Courts.
 
For the intersquad scrimmage, the day mimicked a mixed-doubles tournament. A member of the men's team and a member of the women's team were paired up and competed in two rounds of doubles matches against other Messiah tennis team members.
 
See below for a quick recap of Saturday's action:
 
Round One
 
Galen Fitzkee paired up with Rebekah Adams and took on the team of Andrew Bookman and Rachel Marcroft. It went down to a third set tiebreak, but Fitzkee/Adams came out on top with a 6-7(3), 6-3, [10-4] win on court one.
 
On court two, Jarod Snader and Katelyn Rosselli teamed up to beat Connor Rose and Kasi Conjack. After the first set went to a tiebreak, Snader/Rosselli pulled away in the second set to earn the 7-6(4), 6-2 victory.
 
The team of Jonathan Baker and Sarah Fleming faced off against AJ Swanson and Hannah Murray on court three. After a close first set Baker/Fleming ran away in the second to win 7-6(5), 6-0.
 
On court four, Casey Rossel and Rebekah Sheaffer teamed up to take on Michael Niemi and Angela Tozzi. It was a closely contested match, but Niemi/Tozzi held the edge for a 6-4, 7-5 win.
 
On court five, Ellis Martin and Hannah Olson won convincingly against Hannah Kapchinske and Rachel Dougherty 6-3, 6-0.
 
Round Two
 
After a first round of competition, the Falcons wanted to get the most out of their only fall match. So play continued, but due to timing the second round of matches were contested as eight-game pro sets.
 
Fitzkee/Adams extended their record to 2-0 on the day with an 8-4 victory over the team of Snader/Rosselli 8-4, while Bookman/Marcroft beat Rose/Conjack by an identical score of 8-4.
 
Niemi/Tozzi won again but this time against Baker/Fleming 8-5, while Rossel/Sheaffer won 8-4 against Swanson/Murray.
 
"The competition couldn't have been any better, I really enjoyed watching everyone play today," Head Coach Jon Arosell said after the intersquad match on Saturday. "I was impressed with the way everyone competed, and all the matches were close."
 
The scrimmage was the lone match of the fall, and the Falcons will look to start the 2021 campaign in the early spring.

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video