The AMCC men's tennis championship will take place this weekend, April 22 & 23, at Westwood Racquet Club in Erie, PA. Penn State Behrend finished the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record in conference play, earning them the top seed in this year's tournament. The Lions will take on #4 Pitt-Greensburg on Saturday at 3:30pm in the first semifinal match of the afternoon. #2 Penn State Altoona will face #3 Mount Aloysius College in the nightcap.
#1 Penn State Behrend is led by freshman No. 1 singles player Ratvik Nadikude who was the only player in the conference to finish 8-0 in singles play this season. Sophomore Jonathon Laier went 7-0 in the No. 2 singles spot, while Mitchell May (No. 3, 5-0), Mason Harbaugh (No. 4, 6-0), and Cody Jaconski (No. 5, 5-0) also went undefeated in their respective positions. Nadikude and Laier also picked up a 7-0 record at the top doubles spot this season.
With a 6-2 record in AMCC play, Penn State Altoona enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Lions have recorded 12 overall wins this season, tying the men's tennis program's single-season record for wins. Emmett Hibbs led Altoona with the most conference singles wins, going 5-1 in the No. 4 spot. Ethan Scneider went 4-1 at No. 5, while Nick Beard was 4-2 at No. 3 singles. Casey Hess, who went 3-2 in No. 2 spot in AMCC play, tied the Lions' single-season record for the most overall singles wins with 12. Hess set that record himself last season, and now has a chance to break it with one more singles win. Joey Toth compiled a 3-3 record during the regular season in the top spot for the Lions.
#3 Mount Aloysius put together a 4-4 record in conference play to earn the tournament's No. 3 seed. Senior Cole Kazmierczyk led the Mounties in the top singles spot, going 5-3 on the season. The Mounties also got 2-0 singles records from Zachary Johnson (No. 3) and Lucas Letizia (No. 4). Matt Jacobs and Kazmierczyk went 4-3 at No. 1 doubles, while Johnson and Letizia earned a 5-2 record at the No. 2 position.
Rounding out the field is #4 Pitt-Greensburg with a 2-6 conference mark. Kyle Glessner led the Bobcats in singles play with a 2-0 record at the No. 3 spot. Glessner and doubles partner Roman Ruscitto went 2-0 at No. 2 doubles, while Preston Hunt and Cole McGurk were 2-0 at No. 3 doubles.
The winners of Saturday's semifinal matches will square off on Sunday at 1:30pm for the AMCC Championship