GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's tennis team kept their momentum rolling with a 9-0 victory over the visiting Alvernia Golden Wolves on Tuesday afternoon. The Falcons quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three-straight wins in doubles play, dropping just eight games in the process.
 
Jonathan Baker was first off in singles play, earning a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Derrick Boltz on court four. Baker's victory gave the Falcons four team points before Jarod Snader clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-1 victory on court three to give Messiah their fifth team point.
 
Straight-set singles victories from Galen Fitzkee (6-0, 6-1), AJ Swanson (6-2, 6-3), Michael Niemi (6-1, 6-0), and Andrew Bookman (6-3, 6-1) followed to seal the 9-0 victory.
 
Messiah moves to 4-1 with the victory and will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Stevenson to take on the Mustangs at 1:00 p.m.
 
Doubles Play
Messiah began doubles with an 8-3 victory by Jarod Snader and Jonathan Baker over Thomas Figurelli and Christopher Lazdins of Alvernia at court two to grab their first point. AJ Swanson and Michael Niemi than took care of business on court three to make it 2-0 Messiah.
 
Andrew Bookman and Galen Fitzkee got off to a quick start at court one before Michael Brophy and Kevin Angeles began to make things interesting, going down 5-3. However, Bookman and Fitzkee claimed the final three games to take the third point for the Falcons heading into singles.
 
Singles Play
Jonathan Baker and Jarod Snader claimed the match for Messiah, losing just three games in the process as Baker won 6-2, 6-0 and Snader won 6-1, 6-0, respectively to make it 5-0 Messiah.
 
Fitzkee than won on court two, only surrendering one game (6-0, 6-1) to make it 6-0 before Swanson and Niemi claimed victories on courts five and six to make it 8-0.
 
After falling behind early in set one, Bookman came back to claim the set 6-3 before winning set two 6-1 to complete the sweep for the Falcons.
 
Inside The Box Score
Galen Fitzkee stays undefeated on the season for the Falcons after a pair of victories Tuesday afternoon. He is 8-0, with four doubles and four singles victories.
 
Michael Niemi is also undefeated at 6-0 for Messiah, with three doubles and three singles victories.
 
What's Up Next
After Messiah claimed their fourth win of the season by a score of 9-0, they will travel to Stevenson University on Saturday to take on the Mustangs in Owings Mills, Md. at 1:00 p.m.