Chris Ray Leads Bison Men's Tennis to Impressive Performance In First Day of PAC Championships
April 29 – BETHANY, W. Va. – For the first time since the turn of the century, the Bethany College men's tennis team posted at least one victory in every flight, as the Green & White positioned themselves in third place after the first day of action at the PAC Championships.
Every Bison that competed on the day won at least a first-round match over the course of the afternoon, giving Bethany a total of 29 points through the opening day.
It was sophomore Chris Ray (Henrico, Va./Mills E. Godwin) who put himself in a position to etch his name in the Bethany history books, earning his way to the championship match of the No. 5 singles flight.
Ray, who came into the championship weekend as the fifth flight's second seed, earned an opening round victory over Westminster's Jon Clark by a 6-0, 6-1 score. He then continued to roll by defeating the third seed, Zach Fox of Saint Vincent, by scores of 6-0 and 6-3 to earn a spot in the championship match.
On Saturday, Ray will take on the top-overall seed, Nate Roberts of Grove City, who earned his way into the finals with a win over W&J's Josh Hnat (6-3, 6-4). The two met earlier this season in Grove City, with Roberts handing Ray his only conference loss of the year in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 10-5).
Ray will look to become the Bison's first individual champion since the 2000 season. That year, Bethany saw players crowned at both No. 1 singles (Markus Overheu) and No. 2 singles (Dominic Costa).
Along with his work at No. 5 singles, Ray also partnered with senior Kyle Booker (Forest Park, Ga./Forest Park) at No. 2 doubles. The duo earned a straight-set (8-0) victory over Jesse Hooke and David Streit of Geneva College, before falling 8-6 to the pairing of Greg Smith and Chad Dille from Washington & Jefferson.
Booker and Ray will play for third place at No. 2 doubles in the consolation match tomorrow with Grove City's Jon Fleet and Nate Roberts, who were upset, 8-5, by Waynesburg's Jonah Cooper and Adam McKnight.
The Bison also earned first-round wins at both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. The pairing of freshmen Rhone Thrash (Parkersburg, W. Va./Parkersburg) and Drake Berlin (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) tallied an opening round victory over Washington & Jefferson's Sean Carrick and Micah Byrum. Drake and Berlin won the match 9-8 by taking the tiebreaker, 7-5. The matchup proved to be the only first-round meeting in the doubles flights that required a tiebreaker set.
At No. 3 doubles, the team of Marcus Hooks (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) and Jack Waters (Epsom, United Kingdom/Glyn School) earned an 8-5 victory over Thiel Alex Horvatits and Jon Fennick. They then dropped an 8-1 decision to Saint Vincent's Yezovich and McGee, to land them a spot in the consolation bracket.
In singles action, Thrash and Berlin notched opening-round wins. Thrash, a three seed, defeated the six seed, Westminster's AJ May by a 6-1, 6-2 score. He then dropped a 7-5, 6-1 match to Saint Vincent's Jonathan Prichard to earn a spot in the third-place match against Carrick of W&J.
Berlin, the fifth seed at No. 2 singles, defeated the fourth-seeded Ryan Hartz of Saint Vincent, to move on and face Byrum. Berlin fell in the semifinal match and will play Westminster's Kornel Foremski for third place on Saturday.
Booker, Hooks and Waters all also won their first-round matchups before falling in the semifinals to land in the consolation bracket on Saturday. Booker's win at No. 3 singles came against Geneva's Evan Shaw (6-4, 6-3), before he fell in three sets to Smith of W&J.
Hooks defeated McKnight of Waynesburg in three sets (6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 10-6) at No. 4 singles, while Waters tallied a convincing, 6-0, 6-0, victory over Thomas More's Brandon Lorentz.
The Bison, already with 29 team points, find themselves currently tied for third place in the team standings with Washington & Jefferson College. Their 29 points are the most by the program since the 2000 season, when the Green & White earned third place with 23 total points.
The Bison will be back in action at the Pennbriar Athletic Club in Erie, Pa. on Saturday, April 30, as they compete in the second day of the PAC Championships. Action is slated to begin at 8:30 p.m.
