Men's Tennis Takes Second Meeting vs. Newbury
WATERTOWN, Mass. – The Mitchell College men's tennis team salvaged a season split against Newbury College with a 5-4 victory on Wednesday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference play.
Mitchell improved to 6-4 overall (4-3 NECC) while Newbury dropped to 4-6 overall (2-6 NECC).
Newbury came out of the gate strong, jumping out to a quick 2-1 advantage in doubles play. Senior Joey Verdon and sophomore Christian Repunte knocked off Orson Sinclair and sophomore Adam Diaz, 8-5, in first doubles. Fellow senior Wayne Gethers and junior Antonios Tran took second doubles by the same score, 8-5.
The Mariners picked up one point in the final doubles pairing. Freshman Anthony Drake and senior Chris McKeon defeated sophomore DaRay Ross and freshman Alexander Rodriguez, 8-1.
In the singles portion of the competition, momentum swung in the direction of the Mariners. Senior Michael Edwards defeated Ross in fifth singles, 6-1, 6-1 as Sinclair was taking third singles from Verdon.
However, Gethers was able to sniff out a victory over Mitchell junior Michael Berman at fourth singles with identical 6-1 set scores. Diaz answered by defeating Repunte in second singles (6-1, 6-3), but the lead did not last long for the Mariners.
Tran jumped out in front of junior Graham Cavanaugh, taking the first set at first singles, 6-1. Cavanaugh battled back in set two but couldn't overcome Tran's powerful serve and forehand, and the Nighthawks knotted the contest at 4-4.
In the deciding sixth singles, McKeon topped Rodriguez in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) to secure the victory for the Mariners. The senior was the only Mitchell player to earn two points on the day.
Mitchell wraps up conference play at Becker College on Thursday, April 23 at 3:00 p.m.