Falcons Cruise Through First Conference Match; Upend Arcadia 8-1
Junior Luke Sisson partnered with sophomore Nathan Shertzer for an 8-0 win at the #3 doubles flight against Arcadia University.
Glenside, PA – Messiah men’s tennis team came out strong in its first Middle Atlantic Conference Saturday.
After having a tough week returning from Hilton Head, South Carolina, the Falcons responded with a strong 8-1 win at Arcadia University, moving its record to 1-0 in league competition.
Messiah (3-6, 1-0) dominated the doubles performance collectively to win the three opening matches of the day.
Freshman Dave Wichert and sophomore Freddie Behnke rolled to a quick 8-0 win at second doubles, as did sophomore Nathan Shertzer and junior Luke Sisson at # 3 doubles.
The #1 doubles duo of junior Andrew Wismer and sophomore Justin Meckley had a tougher match, as they held on to one critical break of serve to pull out an 8-6 win.
“This doubles win was huge,” Meckley said. “I think it gave us both a lot of confidence in our ability to hold serve and work together in the critical moments of a game.”
“This is exactly what I needed them to do,” Messiah head coach, Sheila Bush, said. “We needed to come out strong in doubles, from the very first point, and this is exactly what happened.”
Messiah’s doubles success carried over into singles as well, taking five out of the six matches to finish up the day with a victory over the Knights (1-5, 0-2).
Taking over at the number one flight this season, Wismer out-rallied Arcadia’s Bart Blankenship 6-3, 6-0 to take home his second win of the spring season. Meckley, playing his first match at the number two flight, dominated rallies with strong movement and aggressive net play to defeat Kevin Langer 6-3, 6-4.
Wichert continued his singles success from spring break by winning 6-2, 6-3 against Eric Ellie at the number three flight. Behnke did likewise at the fourth flight, taking home a 6-2, 6-1 win against Max Ameil.
At number six, sophomore Derrek Hoffer defeated Herminio Quinones in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Messiah’s lone loss came at the fifth flight in an exciting matchup between freshman Chris Brittingham and Arcadia’s Marc Ruggia. In a long-winded battle of consistency and will, Brittingham fell just short, losing 6-3, 5-7, 7-10 in a third set super tiebreaker.
“Despite Chris’s eventual loss, he showed a lot of heart and an ability to change up his style of play throughout the match” team captain Wismer said. “On the whole, our match today was exactly what we needed to start off our conference play this season. The young guys really began to step into their positions and contribute to the team’s victory as a whole.”
Messiah continues league play on Wednesday, traveling to rival Lebanon Valley College. Match time is set for 3:30 pm.
