Men's Tennis
Commonwealth Conference Semifinal
Messiah 5, Lebanon Valley 1
Photo GalleryGRANTHAM, Pa. - Lebanon Valley battled all day long, but Messiah moved on to the Commonwealth Conference title match with a 5-1 semifinal decision.
LVC, who had lost 8-1 to Messiah in the regular-season finale six days ago and was swept in doubles in that match, flipped the result at No. 3 thanks to
Andrew Wilson and
Jonathan Hastings, who won 8-6 over Dustin Innerst and Mike Kovacs to give them a chance down 2-1. Messiah won Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, 8-4 at 1 and 8-5 at 2.
In singles, Dave Wichert quickly won at No. 2 6-0, 6-1 over
Jordan Shankroff, and Hastings - playing his first collegiate singles match - hung in but fell 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6 to Innerst to put LVC on the brink. The decider was at No. 4, where Devin Esch won 6-2, 6-2, against Wilson.
LVC was either ahead or in tight matches everywhere else when the match was called;
Ryan Weitzel was in an entertaining second set with Mike Brookhart, dropping the first 6-3 but up 4-2 in the second;
Sam Calabria won a first-set tie break and was ahead 3-2 in the second at No. 3 over Pete Shuck; and
Cody Manmiller and Chris Brittingham were 1-1 in the third after splitting their first two sets.
Top-seeded Messiah will move on to face Elizabethtown, an upset winner over Alvernia, for the championship.
Singles 1. Mike Brookhart (MC) vs.
Ryan Weitzel (LVC), 6-3, 2-4, unfinished
2. Dave Wichert (MC) def.
Jordan Shankroff (LVC), 6-0, 6-1
3. Pete Shuck (MC) vs.
Sam Calabria (LVC), 6-7 (4), 2-3, unfinished
4. Devin Esch (MC) def.
Andrew Wilson (LVC), 6-2, 6-2
5. Chris Brittingham (MC) vs.
Cody Manmiller (LVC), 4-6, 6-0, 1-1, unfinished
6. Dustin Innerst (MC) def.
Jonathan Hastings (LVC), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles 1. Brookhart/Wichert (MC) def. Weitzel/Shankroff (LVC), 8-4
2. Shuck/Brunner (MC) def. Calabria/Manmiller (LVC), 8-5
3. Wilson/Hastings (LVC) def. Innerst/Kovacs (MC), 8-6
Order of FinishD:2,1,3 / S:2,6,4
