HILTON HEAD, S.C. - The men's tennis team played two matches on Tuesday in Hilton Head and lost 5-4 to Mount Union (5-0) in the morning match before coming back for a 9-0 win over St. John Fisher in the afternoon.
The Bulldogs opened up with a 2-1 lead after doubles against Mount Union. Jordan Verbauwhede and Joey Loselle defeated Rob DeMarco and Ben Swope at No. 1 doubles by the score of 8-1. Michael Mertz and Spencer Georgetti also was an 8-1 winner at No. 2 doubles over Malcolm Leake and Jeff Williams.
Adrian then could not close out during singles as they dropped four of the six matches. Two of those matchups however went three sets. Loselle won the first set at No. 2 singles and then dropped the next two. Troy Gargrave also won the first set (6-3) before falling 6-1, 10-8 in the super tiebreaker. Mertz and Verbauwhede each had convincing wins. Mertz won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 and Verbauwhede won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1.
"The Mount Union loss was a tough one to open the day up. The guys wanted that match, but we had a tough time closing the door and it bit us. The team responded by coming out with an intense energy in the second match. It was a different energy level that we need to bring every time we play. Today was a good test for our guys, one we will grow from," said head coach Adam Albertsen.
Adrian (6-3) had no problems with St. John Fisher in the second match of the day winning every match in straight sets in singles and only dropping 10 games in doubles play. Alex Holdren and Alex Kret took the court together for the first time this season and won 8-3 at No. 3 doubles over Adam Moran and Kyle Stich. Mertz and Georgetti improved to 4-0 in doubles this season with an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles over Nathaniel Ligon and Jake Zarcycki.
Garrett Livernois got his second win of the season at No. 6 singles with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Stich. Loselle improved to 8-1 in singles this season with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Sheldon Mitchell at No. 2. Verbauwhede also won his match at No. 1 by the scores of 6-3, 6-2 improving to 7-2 in singles play this season.
The Bulldogs are back on the court on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. against Lebanon Valley.
