AMCC

FRANCISCAN, MOUNT ALOYSIUS TO SQUARE OFF FOR MEN'S TENNIS TITLE

FRANCISCAN, MOUNT ALOYSIUS TO SQUARE OFF FOR MEN'S TENNIS TITLE

Seven time champion Franciscan University will take on first time finalist Mount Aloysius College i the men's tennis championship match on Sunday.

The top seeded Mounties, who have won six straight titles, took care of #4 seed Penn St. Behrend, 5-1, in the first semifinal of the day.  The Lions' first doubles duo of Brent McFarland and Mitchell May battled their way to an 8-7 (3) victory over the Barons' top ranked pair of Gary Pierre and Billy Presume.  Franciscan claimed the next two points as Luke Conrad and Jack Galla earned an 8-5 decision at #2 doubles and Walter Matt and Aidan Howard won at #3 doubles, 8-6.

The singles wins were all Franciscan, as the Barons got points from Conrad at #2 (6-2, 6-2), Presume at #3 (6-1, 6-3), and Galla at #5 (6-0, 6-2) to close out the match.

Box Score

The second semifinal was a closely contested battle between the #2 Mounties and #3 Medaille College.  The regular season clash was a 5-4 victory for the Mounties that foretold the intensity of the playoff meeting.  The Mavericks earned a trip to the tournament in just their first season as a varsity program, and did not show any rookie nerves in the 5-3 tournament loss.  The Mounties #1 doubles team of Matt Blose and Nick Goldyn took an 8-3 victory as did their #2 team of Cole Kazmierczyk and Dylan Matta (8-2) but the Mavs answered with an 8-0 win at #3 doubles by Matthew Burke and Jonny Pitts.

On the singles side, Mount Aloysius scored their winning points at #1 (Blose, 6-1, 6-2), #2 (Kazmierczyk, 6-1, 6-1) and #4 (Matta, 6-3, 6-1).  Medaille's winning doubles team of Burke and Pitts were also victorious in singles, with Burke winning #5 (6-2, 6-0) and Pitts at #6 (6-0, 6-2).

Box Score

The Barons defeated the Mounties by an 8-1 margin during the regular season.  The finals are set for 1:30pm on Sunday at Westwood Racquet Club in Erie, PA.  The winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournanment in May.