Four time defending champion Franciscan University depended on its depth to overcome #2 seed Penn St. Behrend en route to the AMCC men's tennis title on Sunday.
Franciscan (5-0 AMCC, 9-9 overall) started the day sweeping all three doubles matches. The #1 team of John Gallaghr and Jarek Sulak downed the Behrend tandem of Yanique Apgar and Scott Russell, 8-5. R.J. Watson and Connor Jooste engaged in a seesaw battle with Behrend's Brenden Dollard and Nick McFarland before prevailing in a tiebreak, 9-8 (6-3), while #3 doubles team of David Freytag and Jack Galla kept their AMCC record perfect with an 8-2 decision over Nick Kapty and Michael Duckett.
The singles points that clinched the championship came from #5 Jooste (6-0, 6-1) and #6 Galla (6-3, 6-4).
With the win the Barons earned the AMCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. Pairings will be announced Monday, May 7. The AMCC all-conference team and award winners will be released on Tuesday.