OWINGS MILLS, MD. - The Messiah men's tennis team dropped a tough 2-7 bout with the Stevenson Mustangs this afternoon. The duo of Niemi/Anderson won at three doubles while Jonathan Baker picked up a singles win at No. 6.
The Falcons will be back in action this weekend for another critical conference matchup with playoff implications on Saturday, April 15, when they travel to Annville, Pa. to take on LVC. That match will start at 1:00 PM.
Doubles
Messiah came out of the gates slow in doubles on courts one and two, both teams finding themselves at 2-5 deficits. No. 1 doubles with Wilson/Rose could not overcome the slow start and fell 4-8. Baker/Gingerich was able to rally back but also could not overcome the early deficit and lost 6-8.
It was a different story on court three doubles, as the Falcons jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and was able to prevail after a mid set lull to pull ahead at the end to win 8-5.
The Falcons trailed 1-2 heading into singles.
Singles
The Falcons took it personally and kicked off the singles matches with a bang. At one point, Messiah led 3-0, 3-0, 2-1, 5-0, 3-0 and 3-0 from courts one through six respectively. Messiah would convert four of those for first sets wins to take some early momentum in singles.
Stevenson answered the call with authority from that point forward, taking command on every court and closing out two matches in straight sets. Josh Gingerich lost 2-6, 2-6 at No. 3 while Michael Sell dropped his match at No. 5 4-6, 2-6.
The Mustangs led 4-1 in the overall match at this point.
Command they did, as the Mustangs won every second set that they had dropped in the first, forcing four matches to full third set sets.
The first third set to finish was Jonathan Baker, who fought off two match points trailing 4-5 to prevail in his match 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 to get a win at No. 6.
That would be the last match Messiah would win on the afternoon, as the Mustangs would outlast every Messiah player remaining.
Chase Wilson lost at No. 1, 6-2, 5-7, 2-6 while Michael Niemi lost in a third set tiebreak on court four 6-0, 3-6, 6-7(5). The final match to finish was Connor Rose on court two, who lost 6-3, 4-6, 5-7.
When it was all said and done, the Mustangs won 7-2.
Up Next
The loss takes the Falcons to 5-6 on the year and takes their conference record to 2-1. They will face another tough test this weekend when they travel to Lebanon Valley, the preseason favorite in the conference. That match will be held in Annville, Pa. on Saturday, April 15 with the start of the match scheduled for 1:00 PM.
