Goshen, Ind. - The Marian men's tennis team scored a road victory on Thursday evening, as the Knights took down Goshen College 5-2 in Northern Indiana. The win for Marian guarantees the Knights a third place finish in the Crossroads League, as they improve to 5-2 overall on the season.
The Knights started the first of their two road matches on the week by taking the doubles point, opening the contest with a 1-0 lead.
Shadi Al Tori and
Ashwin Bhat scored the first victory in doubles with their 6-0 win on the No. 3 court by taking down Mario Gomez and Brandon Lomas. Goshen would respond moments later as Matija Margetic and Pedro Scattolon defeated
James Ashworth and
Jones McNamar 6-4. With the point falling on the No. 1 court,
Andrew Ilett and
Marc Soriano grinded out a 7-6 win over Fllippo Gallo and Insee Akarapan, needing a tiebreaker to decide the point, which the Marian duo won 7-3.Â
With a 1-0 lead in their pocket, Marian rolled into singles with a quick win at No. 4 singles, with Ilett taking down Gomez 6-0, 6-2. Goshen would score their first point of the contest on the No. 1 singles court moments later, as Gallo defeated Ashworth with similar 6-2 scores. Soriano answered minutes later with a win at No. 6 singles, as he picked up a 6-2, 6-0 win against Lomas, pushing Marian's match lead to 3-1.
The final three singles matches either had a long set tiebreaker or a third set. At No. 2 singles,
Luis Sobanski picked up the clinching win with a long second set tiebreaker, defeating Margetic 6-3, 7-6 (10-8), sealing Marian's win.
Jona Henze added to the victory with his win at No. 5 signles over Akarapan, winning 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Goshen would take the final point of the contest, as
Jan Bartolome was defeated in three sets by Scattolon 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, concluding the match's final score of 5-2.
Marian will aim to finish the Crossroads League slate on a high note on Sunday afternoon following Thursday's win, as the Knights travel to St. Francis for a 1 p.m. match.
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