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.