COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's tennis team opened its spring campaign with a busy match day, taking on two opponents from two different conferences in two different locations. Playing deep into the night, the Bears cruised to an 8-1 victory over Arcadia following a 9-0 Centennial Conference sweep at the hands of nationally ranked Swarthmore.
The Bears (1-1) were mostly outgunned against the No. 31 Garnet, but gave their high-profile visitors a stern test on several courts. Sophomore Mason Groff brought Swarthmore number one Jiung Jung to the limit in singles, grabbing a 7-5 first set and taking the second to a tiebreak. But Jung outdistanced Ursinus' top player by a 7-2 margin and claimed a 10-5 result in the third-set super tiebreak to keep the hosts off the board.
At second doubles, junior Connor DeFaber-Schumacher and sophomore Matt Fontanese pushed Kevin Xu and Minki Kim to the brink before the Swarthmore duo staved off a pair of match points and hung on for an 8-7 (4) triumph.
Fontanese was highly competitive in singles as well, dropping a 6-4, 6-3 decision to Weiyi Zhu on the third court. DeFaber-Schumacher pushed Simon Vernier in a 6-3, 6-3 defeat at number two singles.
Groff and freshman Simbarashe Kanjanda lost 8-4 to Vernier and Zhu at number one doubles, with senior Jake Lachowicz and sophomore Kyle Bookman falling 8-3 at number three.
Ursinus had a much easier time of it against the Knights, generally cruising to its first dual victory of the year.
Groff and Kanjanda picked up their first win together, downing Nicholas Simeone and Jaime Zeng Zhu by an 8-2 count at number one. Lachowicz and Bookman matched that score line at number three before DeFaber-Schumacher and Fontanese polished off a sweep with an 8-5 victory on the second court.
DeFaber-Schumacher was dominant at number two singles, rolling to a 6-0, 6-0 double bagel against John Zinzer. Fontanese, meanwahile, routed Drake Hanak by a 6-1, 6-0 final on the third court.
Lachowicz won 6-1, 6-3 over Ryan Stellato at number five, and Bookman scored an 8-5 victory over Alex Post at six singles.
Groff got the best of another marathon on the top court, shaking off a first-set tiebreaker defeat and turning the tables for a 6-7 (4), 6-0, 10-8 triumph.
After a week of training, the men's tennis team heads to Florida for its annual spring break trip. The Bears open a swing of four matches against Transylvania on Monday, March 11 in Orlando.