GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's tennis team held their season opener at home against the Grove City Wolverines on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. The Wolverines rolled past the Falcons this afternoon winning by a 9-0 final score.
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 16 on the road against Penn State Harrisburg at 1:00 p.m.
Doubles
The Falcons hung tough with a strong Wolverines squad, but ultimately dropped all three doubles courts.
Chase Wilson and
Timothy Sheaffer fought hard on court one, but ultimately could not get it done as Wolverines Jameson Sposato and Gavin Miller would win the match 8-6. Court three would end identically to court one as Messiah's
Ben Anspach and
Luke Risser would not be able to get over the hump dropping their match 8-6 as well.
Michael Niemi and
Gregory Valdez would try to hold court two, but the Wolverines proved to be too strong as they fell 8-5. Grove City would enter singles play with a commanding 3-0 lead.
Singles
Both
Chase Wilson and
Michael Niemi would have competitive matches on their respective courts trying to bring Messiah back into the match, but neither could get passed their opponent. On court one Wilson would drop both sets 6-2, 6-3. While on court two Niemi would battle hard in set one losing 7-5, but could not get it going in set two losing 6-4.
Court three would have an unfortunate ending for the Falcons as Shaeffer would prove to be competitive in set one losing 7-5. But after a quick 3-0 Wolverine lead in set two Shaffer would suffer an injury and be forced to retire from the match.
On courts four, five, and six, Messiah would suffer the same outcome as their fellow team members. On court four
Ben Anspach would drop both sets by a score of 6-3, 6-1. Both Risser and Valdez would fight hard but could not get their footing, Risser would fall 6-2, 6-0 and Valdez could not manage to score as he dropped both sets 6-0. The Wolverines would spoil the Falcons home opener and complete the shut out by a 9-0 score.
Up Next
The Falcons will look to bounce back in the young season as they travel to Middletown, Pa to face Penn State Harrisburg. First match is set to start at 1:00 p.m.
