GETTYSBURG, Pa. – A sweep of a highly competitive set of doubles matches propelled the Ursinus College men's tennis team to an 8-1 defeat of Gettysburg on Saturday.
After Darby Rogers and Rob Ritchie (8-4 at No. 3) and Lars Jespersen and Will Oberholtzer (8-5 at No. 2) polished off victories, the teams settled in to watch the conclusion of a thrilling match on the top court between Ursinus' Matt Fontanese and Mason Groff and the Bullets' Alex Kagan and Michael Zayneh. Fontanese and Groff got the best of the duel, improving to 3-0 on the year with an 7-2 victory in the tiebreaker.
Jespersen cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 decision at No. 3 singles before Oberholtzer clinched victory for the Bears (2-1) with a 6-2, 6-0 rout at No. 4.
Kagan, the reigning Centennial Conference player of the week, broke up the sweep bid with a straight-sets win at No. 1 singles, but Ursinus took the three remaining courts.
Rogers rolled past his No. 5 singles opponent by a count of 6-2, 6-0, and Fontanese bested Zayneh 6-3, 7-5 at No. 2.
Ritchie finished off the night with a hard-fought three-set victory, claiming a 10-8 marathon breaker to secure the 8-1 final.
With his doubles result, Groff became the 11th player in program history to reach 60 career wins. Fontanese is one victory from joining his partner.
Ursinus welcomes Dickinson to the Bailey Courts on Saturday.