MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – On Saturday, Mar. 17, Penn State Harrisburg's men's and women's tennis teams opened the spring portion of their schedules with 9-0 wins.  The men easily handled Immaculata while the ladies sent Trinity back to Washington D.C. with a St. Patrick's Day defeat.

The men were led by Joshua Cartmill (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley).  The junior CV grad topped Migthy Mac number one singles player Demetrios Vlahos (Broomall, PA/Marple Newtown) 6-3 and 6-1 while another junior, Evgeny Matigullin (New Bloomfield, PA/Susquenita), won 12 straight points to take down Immaculata's Eric Schmidt 6-0, 6-0.  In the number three slot, sophomore Vinnie Lepore (Chepachet, RI/Ponaganset) won his first match of the season after joining the blue and white this spring.  Zachry Warriner (Montrose, PA/Montrose) (6-2, 6-2), Tyler Loy (Annville, PA/Annville Cleona) (6-1, 6-1) and Vishnu Gopalakrishnan (Ashburn, VA/Briar Woods) (6-0, 6-0) rounded out singles play with wins for the Lions.

Penn State Harrisburg took care of business in doubles competition as well.  The pairs of Cartmill/Gopalakrishnan, Lepore/Loy and Matigullin/Warriner all notched big wins to complete the sweep of Immaculata and improve the defending NEAC/NAC champions to 6-0 on the year.

Just like their male counterparts, the women made quick work of their opponents from Trinity (DC).  The Lions' number one singles player, freshman Gabrielle LeGendre (East Stroudsburg, PA/Notre Dame) defeated the Tigers' number one in Rebecca Auleus (Hamilton, NJ) 6-2 and 6-0.  Junior Theodora Avramidis (Glenwood, NJ/Vernon Township) handled the number two slot with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of her Trinity opponent.  Spring season newcomers Alejandro Portillo (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) and Jordan Simpkins (Mount Joy, PA/Donegal)  picked up wins in the three and four spots while sophomores Jaclyn Gyger (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) (6-0, 6-0) and Kristine Surgent (Woodbridge, VA/Woodbridge) (6-1, 6-1) rounded out the singles play with a victory apiece.

The ladies were just as strong in doubles play as the teams of LeGendre/Avramidis, Portillo/Simpkins and Gyger/Surgent dispatched of the Tiger duos to complete the clean sweep of Trinity.  The victory improved the blue and white to 5-4 on the season.

The men are next in action this Friday, Mar. 23.  They play host to Southern Virginia.  The women's next match comes on Saturday, Mar. 24 when they host North Eastern Athletic Conference foe Lancaster Bible.