Men’s Tennis Wins First PAC Match of Season
Fresh off the Beren Invitational at Marietta College, the Waynesburg University men’s tennis team hosted Thiel College on Wednesday, March 29. The team was able to pick up its first home win while only losing one match.
Sophomores Jonah Cooper and Josh Denham were able to win the number one doubles competition 8-1 against sophomore Cole Duskey and freshman Ray Bullis.
Senior Jordan Pastoria and junior Adam McKnight were also victorious in the second doubles match versus senior Alex Horvatits and sophomore Christian Conrad, winning 8-4. Closing out the doubles competition, freshmen Tanner McKnight and James Zeremenko won 8-2 against sophomores Eric Mitchell and Tyler Feciuch.
Zeremenko said the conditions of the day were an added challenge.
“I think it was rough serving into the sun, but after I moved around and found a spot, I found a better groove,” Zeremenko said.
McKnight had some positive words on his doubles match.
“My doubles match with James went well. We had a few errors and gave up two games, but that wasn’t a bad game we played,” said McKnight. “We got to work together and practice more as partners.”
Head coach Ron Headlee is very impressed with his team after its performance.
“I thought we played well today. Guys were moving the ball around well,” said Headlee. “Winning all three doubles lines jump started our team and they continued to keep the pressure on Thiel.”
Cooper won his match against Duskey at one singles by the score of 6-0, 6-2. Waynesburg’s second man, Denham, was triumphant in his match versus Bullis, winning 7-5, 6-1. It was a hard fought first set, but Denham pulled away in the second set. The Yellow Jackets’ Adam McKnight was victorious at third singles, defeating Horvatits 6-1, 6-0.
In addition, Pastoria pocketed a victory for the Yellow Jackets against Conrad, winning 6-0, 6-1. Waynesburg’s fifth man, McKnight, was also able to pull out a victory, winning 6-1, 6-2 over Mitchell.
McKnight was one of the Yellow Jackets who competed in doubles and singles matches.
“I went out and got a 3-0 on the kid and made a few errors in the first set,” said McKnight. “The second set I had a few more errors, which gave the kid two games.”
The only loss for Waynesburg came at the sixth singles match, where freshman Paul Zalakar lost to Feciuch 6-4, 3-6.
Each player who competed in both singles and doubles competition for the Yellow Jackets recorded two wins on the day.
This win moves Waynesburg’s record to 4-8 and 1-1 in Presidents Athletic Conference play. Thiel drops to 0-2 on the young season and is in last place in the PAC.
The Waynesburg University tennis team is back in action on Saturday, when it hosts Westminster College. The match is slated to start at noon.