CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The Messiah men's tennis team dropped a close 5-4 match Tuesday afternoon against the DeSales University Bulldogs. Galen Fitzkee and Andrew Bookman led the way for the Falcons, as the pair won both their doubles and singles matches. Jarod Snader also picked up a singles win for the Falcons on the third court.

Messiah drops to 5-3 on the season heading into their regular season finale Saturday afternoon when they host the Eastern University Eagles in Grantham on Criste Courts beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Doubles Play
The Bulldogs got off to a hot start in doubles, claiming courts two and three while only surrendering one game. The team of Bookman and Fitzkee won 8-2 on court one to make it 2-1 DeSales heading into singles play.

Singles Play
DeSales took care of business on courts four, five, and six in singles to claim the match. However, Messiah didn't go down easily as they fought hard to claim courts one, two, and three. Galen Fitzkee handled his opponent in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) but Bookman and Snader had to play extra tennis to pick up the win. Fitzkee is 6-1 in both singles and doubles play this season.

Since the Bulldogs had already won the match, both Bookman and Snader played a tiebreaker to ten points instead of a third set. On court three, Jarod Snader dropped his first set 6-4, before dominating set two 6-0 to set up the deciding tiebreaker. He was able to win the tiebreaker 10-7. Snader is a perfect 8-0 in singles play this season. 

On court one, Andrew Bookman also dropped his first set 6-2 before having to fight hard in set two. After being tied 5-5, Bookman took the final two games to win the set 7-5. In the tiebreaker, he came away with another hard fought 10-8 win to claim the match and make the final score 5-4. Bookman is 6-2 in singles play and 6-1 in doubles play. 

What's Up Next
As mentioned, the Falcons will be back in action for their final game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon at home against the Eastern Eagles.