September 22nd, 2008

MIDDLETOWN, PA - Susquehanna University and Juniata College paid a visit to our Men´s and Women´s tennis teams on Saturday and Sunday. The Lady Lions came into the contest on Saturday 2-0 with the Nittany Lions just kicking off their season.

First up were the Crusaders of Susquehanna University. In men´s doubles the Nittany Lions had a clean sweep, winning 8-6, 8-1 and 8-2 in all three flights respectively. The blue and white´s top three flights in singles, Keith Lynn (Bloomsburg/Bloomsburg, PA), Shawn Newlin (Elizabethtown/Elizabethtown, PA) and Daiki Tanaka (Toloata/Fukuoka, Japan), came out the gates running this season with three victories. Along with Mikhail Joseph (Plantation/Ft. Lauderdale, FL) getting the victory in flight six, this capped off the Nittany Lions victory over the Crusaders, 7-2.

The women´s team was less fortunate losing to the Lady Crusaders, 8-1. The Lady Lions sole victory came in doubles play flight two with Lauren Hall (Susquenita/Duncannon, PA) and Alexa Watach(Susquenita/Duncannon, PA) beating Whitney Arcaro and Shelby Werronen, 8-5.

Sunday´s match up put the Nittany Lions up against the Eagles of Juniata College. Thomas Brown (Lower Dauphin/Harrisburg, PA) and Mikhail Joseph continued to dominate their flight, winning 8-6, but flights one and two fell short. In singles play, Austin High (Elizabethtown/Elizabethtown, PA) and Phil Tarkington(Salesianum/Landenberg, PA) bounced back from their disappointing start in Saturday´s match winning their matches in two and three sets respectively. Unfortunately the players who won on Saturday could not grind out another victory against the Eagles. Losing this match 6-3 put the Nittany Lions at 1-1 for the season with their next match coming in the Wilkes Tournament on Sunday September 29th.

In spite of playing in their fourth match in six days, the Lady Lions put a good effort against the Eagles in all three doubles flights. Ultimately fatigue got the better of the blue and white and they fell to Juniata 9-0. After this long weekend for the Lady Lions, they are 2-2 on season with their next match coming against Lancaster Bible College on Wednesday September 24th at Hoverter Tennis Complex on campus.