MEADVILLE, Pa. - The Allegheny men's tennis team sent its four seniors off in style, defeating Oberlin 8-1 on Senior Day at the Robertson Athletic Complex.
The Gators celebrated the careers of seniors Patrick Cole, Charlie Murphy, Frank Mosconi, and Kevin Snyder prior to the match, and found themselves in a battle with the Yeomen throughout the day. The Gators went up 1-0 quickly during the doubles portion of the match as Cole and sophomore Tyler Triolo took control of their match early and won 8-1. The Yeomen would respond with a win of their own, this time at the number two doubles position, winning 8-3 over the team of junior Daniel Conroy and sophomore Thomas Manning. This meant that the 2-1 advantage would come down to the number three position, and the Gators tandem of juniors Sam Stephenson and Alexander Hurtuk pulled out the victory by winning in a tiebreaker 9-8 (7-3) over Oberlin's Charlie Marks and Jeremy Lichtmacher.
With the 2-1 lead in hand, the Gators looked to capitalize on their momentum during the singles matches. The Gators quickly expanded their lead with wins from Murphy at the fourth position 6-0, 6-4. Manning would follow suit with a 6-1, 7-5 win at number three position, and Cole, playing in the number one slot, would clinch the match for the Gators with a 6-2, 6-1 win.
With the match in hand, the Gators would look to complete the singles sweep of the Yeomen. At the sixth singles position, Conroy would take the first set 6-2 over Oberlin's Lichtmacher, before falling in the second 2-6. In the deciding third set super tiebreaker, Conroy would find himself down 5-0, but came back to win the match 11-9. At the number two position, Triolo took the first set 6-4, before dropping the second 4-6 against Callan Louis. In the third set super tiebreaker, Triolo would win 10-7 to expand the Gators lead to 7-1. Finally, at fifth singles, Hurtuk would find himself locked in another battle with Oberlin's Abraham Davis.
After dropping the first set 6-4, Hurtuk went down quickly in the second 5-2. He climbed back into the match and took the second set 7-5, before completing the dramatic comeback in a third set super tiebreaker, as he took control early and never looked back, winning 10-3 to complete the Allegheny singles sweep.
The Gators, who finish NCAC play with a 2-1 record in the East Division, move to 13-5 overall record, and now turn their attention to Monday's match with Penn State-Behrend. The final home match for the Gators will take place at the Robertson Athletic Complex, with first serve taking place at 5:00 p.m.
