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Messiah Dominates MASCAC Individuals, Learns Of NCAA Fate
Sophomore Luke Ruch and freshman Jansen Hein captured the number three doubles title at this weekend's MASCAC Championships, one of five top finishes for the Falcons.

Kingston, PA — After coasting through both the MAC Commonwealth regular season and post-season tournament, the Messiah College men’s tennis team asserted its dominance to the overall MASCAC community, taking five of a total nine possible titles at this weekend’s MASCAC Individual Championships at Kirby Park.

Senior Jonathan Siemen (number two singles), junior Sam Shorts (number three singles), freshman Jansen Hein (number four singles) and senior William Tanis (number five singles) won their respective flights, while Messiah’s number three doubles team of Heim and sophomore Luke Ruch won that position’s championship.

It was an amazing display of tennis according to Messiah head coach Frank Petre, as the Falcons proved their worth as a team is equal to the sum of its parts.

“What can I say,” Petre asked following the weekend’s events. “It was an awesome weekend for our team. We played a total 33 matches, winning 27 and losing only six against the best from the MAC. That’s an 82 percent winning percentage. I doubt any other team in MAC history has ever dominated a conference tournament like this.”

With the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation housing both the Freedom and Commonwealth Conferences, the weekend’s premise was simple: Pit the best tennis players from the Commonwealth against the best from the Freedom, at each respective position.

Going into the tournament, Messiah claimed top seeds — and first-round byes — at all singles slots except for number two, where Siemen went on to defeat top-seeded Lance Dofri (Manhattanville College) in the finals by a 6-2, 6-1 score.

Senior and MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year Nate Ipsen advanced to the finals at the top singles position as well, but fell to Arcadia University’s Tim Fitzgerald by a 6-1, 6-3 count in finals action. It was Fitzgerald’s third career number one singles win in the tournament.

Messiah’s number three doubles’ team of Hein and Ruch also was seeded first, crusing through their weekend en route to an 8-2 decision over Elizabethtown College’s Jim Dombach and Mike Steiner in the championship match. Ipsen and Siemen also made it to the final match at the top doubles position, but fell in an 8-4 decision to Manhattanville’s Dorfi-Julian Oribe combination.

Messiah earned its other three titles via straight-set wins in singles competition, led by Hein’s dominating 6-0, 6-2 championship win at the number four position over Jon Rohrbach of Wilkes University.

Of the nine total flights, Messiah appeared in all but two championships, as Ruch (number six singles) and the tandem of Shorts and Tanis (number two doubles) were eliminated in their respective semi-final matches.

“When you look at how many titles we captured, and then look at how close we were in the flights we didn’t win, it’s hard to not be impressed,” Petre said. “This is a fitting conclusion to conference play for our seniors and their legacy, and a tremendous challenge to future Falcons’ teams.”

Messiah learned its NCAA Tournament fate Monday morning, as the team will travel to the University of Mary Washington this weekend to compete in one of eight NCAA Regionals. Messiah will take on Washington & Lee University at 11 a.m. Friday. The winner of that match will then take on Mary Washington Saturday at 11 a.m.

The final for the regional will take place Sunday at noon.

“We’re anxious to travel to Fredericksburg, Virginia and see what we can do at the NCAA level of post-season play,” Petre said. “We hope to extend our season a few more matches. We’re playing good tennis, so it is an exciting time.”

Composite results from the MASCAC Individual Championships are available here in pdf format. A complete look at this weekend’s NCAA Regional schedule and competing teams is available here.