GRANTHAM, PA. - The Messiah men's tennis team took care of the Alvernia Golden Wolves this afternoon, winning 8-1. It wasn't an easy 8-1, as the Golden Wolves battled in multiple matches pushing a couple to a tiebreak. 
 
The Falcons are back on the courts tomorrow on Wednesday, April 19 for a home match against Hood College. 
 
Action
The Falcons took care of courts one and three doubles by scores of 8-4 and 8-1 as the teams of Wilson/Rose and Niemi/Anderson gave the Falcons a quick 2-0 lead. 
 
It would be a little closer on court two with the team of Baker/Gingerich fighting through an early deficit to take a 6-5 lead. After a break and a hold from Alvernia, the Golden Wolves led 7-6. A Messiah hold set up a tiebreak. 
 
Baker/Gingerich would have to fight off multiple match points but rallied when it mattered and closed out the tiebreak 8-6 for the 8-7(6) win to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead heading to singles play. 
 
Singles
The Falcons took court five easily with Carl Anderson breezing through his match with a 6-0, 6-2 win. Then it was Chase Wilson on court one winning 6-4, 6-0 for the clinching fifth point. 
 
Michael Niemi won on court three 6-2, 7-5 before Jonathan Baker outlasted his opponent on court four 6-2, 7-6(1). 
 
The only loss of the afternoon was on court two where Connor Rose could not find any momentum in the first set, where he fell 3-6. After finding success in the beginning of the second set, it was Lewis who rallied and forced a tiebreak where he would prevail to knock off Rose for Alvernia's only win on the day. Rose fell 3-6, 6-7(4). 
 
The final court to finish was Peyton Sopirak, making his conference debut this afternoon on court six. Sopirak eased through the first set before running into trouble in the second. Forced into a set tiebreak, Sopirak played smart and won the tiebreaker 7-2 for the 6-3, 7-6(2) win. 
 
Up Next
The Falcons record now stands at 6-7 and their conference mark improves to 3-2. The Falcons will host the Hood College Blazers tomorrow afternoon on Wednesday, April 19 for a home match starting at 3:30 PM. To whom it may concern, the seniors will be celebrated in a senior day tribute.