SCRANTON, PA. - The Messiah men's tennis team fell short against the Scranton Royals this afternoon, losing 3-6. Messiah picked up singles wins from Josh Gingerich and Jonathan Baker and picked up a doubles win from that same duo for the third point. 

The Falcons will host Penn State Harrisburg on Tuesday, March 28 for a home match at Criste Courts. 

On the Courts
The six singles matches began the afternoon under the power lines of an overcast Electric City. Half of the matches went to a super tiebreak in lieu of a third set, with the Falcons claiming one of them via Josh Gingerich at No. 3, outlasting his opponent 3-6, 6-4, 10-5. Messiah also found success on court six with Jonathan Baker winning 6-0, 6-4 for what would be the second singles point in the match. 

Chase Wilson dropped a tough match at No. 1, 4-6, 1-6. At No. 2, Connor Rose rallied back in the second set after being down 1-4 to win the second set 6-4 to force a third set tiebreak. Rose fell in the tiebreak and lost the match 5-7, 6-4, 8-10. 

At the fifth singles position, Carl Anderson fought his way to a third set super tiebreak but ultimately fell in an evenly matched, back and forth affair. Anderson lost 4-6, 7-6(3), 3-10. 

Finally, Michael Sell lost 2-6, 0-6 on court four. 

Doubles
With the match at 4-2 in favor of Scranton, the remaining doubles matches began. 

The Royals closed out the match with wins on courts one and three to clinch the match 6-3. Wilson/Rose fell on court one 4-8, while Anderson/Sopriak lost 3-8.

Messiah found success with some similar faces on court two, with the singles winners of Josh Gingerich and Jonathan Baker teaming up to outmatch an inexperienced squad, cruising through them 8-1. 

Up Next
The loss takes the Falcons record to 2-4 and will be back in action next week when they take on Penn State Harrisburg. That match will start at 3:00 PM on March 28, at Criste Courts in Grantham, Pa.