Tennis Gets Back on Winning Track vs. Newbury
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's tennis team got back on the winning track against Newbury College on Tuesday afternoon, winning its New England Collegiate Conference match by a 7-2 final at the Mitchell Tennis Courts.
The Mariners (3-4 overall, 2-3 NECC) snapped a three-match losing skid by winning two of three doubles points and five of six singles points. The Nighthawks (0-4 overall, 0-3 NECC) earned wins at No. 3 doubles and No. 4 singles but couldn't make any headway against the top half of the Mitchell lineup.
After taking a 2-1 lead in doubles, the Mariners made quick work of the match behind the play of their top three singles players. Junior Zachary Simmons and freshman Graham Cavanaugh each dropped only one game en route to straight-set victories at the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively, against Gerard Font-Raventos and Wayne Gethers.
Mitchell clinched the match at the No. 1 position where senior Rocco Devona topped John Morgan by scores of 6-1, 6-3. Devona made his return to the lineup after missing the past two matches due to illness.
With the match already decided, Mitchell junior Randy Coons picked up his first singles win of the season by a 6-1, 6-4 final at No. 5. Sophomore Chris McKeon also earned a point at the No. 6 spot in straight sets.
The only singles match that went past two sets came at the No. 4 position. Newbury's Steve Carey took the first set 6-3 before Mitchell senior Timothy Atkinson won the second set by the same score. In lieu of a third set, the two played a 10-point tiebreaker that saw Carey come away with a 10-6 win.
Newbury's other point came from the tandem of Gabriel Marcolini and Gethers. The duo bested Mitchell's No. 3 doubles squad of Atkinson and senior Ayal Gruber by an 8-6 final.
Mitchell will next host Regis College on Thursday, April 11 at 3 p.m.
