LAFAYETTE HILL, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's tennis team went late into the night in its earliest season opener ever, rolling to a 9-0 sweep of Arcadia at Green Valley Country Club on Saturday night.
Playing in February for the first time in program history, the Bears – ranked 19th in the Atlantic South Region – finished just shy of midnight in coming out on top in their lid lifter for the eighth straight year.
Freshmen Matt Fontanese and Kyle Bookman each registered their first career victories, with Fontanese joining seniors Max Oberholtzer and Peter Shields, sophomore Connor DeFaber-Schumacher, and fellow rookie Mason Groff as double winners.
Playing together for the first time, Oberholtzer and DeFaber-Schumacher got a stiff test from the Knights' top doubles pairing. Ultimately, the Bear duo pulled out a 7-2 victory in a tiebreaker after the teams split 14 games and decided to play the tiebreaker at 7-all to shorten the match.
Sheilds and Groff picked up an 8-4 win at second doubles; in the process, Shields became the seventh player in school history to reach 30 career doubles triumphs.
The all-rookie team of Fontanese and Bookman were 8-1 winners at third doubles.
Oberholtzer moved into a tie for sixth in program history with his 61st career win, a 6-1, 6-1 rout at first singles. Groff followed with a double bagel (6-0, 6-0) in his dual-match debut.
Shields overcame a strong challenge from Drake Hanak at number three singles, bouncing back from a rough first set to post a 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-7) win. DeFaber-Schumacher posted a 6-3, 6-3 result at number four in his 2017-18 singles debut.
Fontanese cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 victory at fifth singles, the first of his career, and junior Jake Lachowicz prevailed 6-1, 6-3 at number six.
A victory under their belts, the Bears head to Florida for their annual spring break trip, which begins on March 5 against Otterbein.