Men's Tennis Finishes 2016 Regular Season with Sweep of Thiel
April 24 – SHARON, Pa. – The Bethany College men's tennis team closed out the 2016 regular season by capturing a 9-0 sweep over Thiel College on Sunday afternoon at the Buhl Park Tennis Courts in Sharon, Pa. With the victory, the Bison finished the 2016 campaign with a 10-3 mark, their highest win total since 1999.
The Green & White dominated in doubles play, dropping just three total points between the three flights. All three doubles pairings earned 8-1 victories, including Rhone Thrash (Parkersburg, W. Va./Parkersburg) and Drake Berlin (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) at No. 1. The duo took down Cole Duskey and Thad Paunovich.
Senior Kyle Booker (Forest Park, Ga./Forest Park) and sophomore Chris Ray (Henrico, Va./Mills E. Godwin) also tallied an 8-1 victory at No. 2 doubles, while juniors Marcus Hooks (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) and Jack Waters (Epsom, United Kingdom/Glyn School) did the same at No. 3.
All three doubles flights posted impressive marks throughout the year. Berlin and Thrash as well as Booker and Ray each finished 10-3 on the season in doubles action, while Hooks and Waters totaled a 6-3 mark at No. 3.
In singles play, the Green & White notched five wins in straight sets, including Booker's 6-0, 6-0 win over Frank Jackson at No. 3 singles. Ray dropped just one point in his match at No. 5 singles, defeating Eric Mitchell by a 6-1, 6-0 score.
Other winners for the Bison included Waters over Jon Fennick at No. 6 (6-1, 6-1), Hooks over Yumelito Komukai at No. 4 (6-0, 6-2) and Berlin over Paunovich (6-2, 6-1) at No. 2.
The lone point that required a tie-breaker set came at No. 1 singles, where Thrash and Duskey require a pro set to find a winner. Thrash dropped the first set by a 6-3 score, before rallying to take the second by a score of 6-2. Thrash then took the tiebreak by an 11-9 tally, giving the Bison the 9-0 sweep of the Tomcats.
The sweep marked the Green & White's second over a conference opponent this season, as they also swept Geneva College a home on April 13.
Individually, Waters, Ray and Booker all closed the regular season on impressive winning streaks. After dropping his first-career match in three sets at Marietta College on March 24, Waters has not lost since, riding an eight-match winning streak into the PAC Championships. He posted an overall record of 8-1 in singles play, including a 6-0 record against opponents from the PAC.
Ray has now won six-consecutive singles matches in the fifth flight, and finished the regular season with a team-best record of 10-2. Additionally, the sophomore played well against conference opponents, tallying a 6-1 mark against the PAC.
The Green & White will return to the court on Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30, as they travel to Erie, Pa. to compete in the PAC Championships. The two-day event will be held at the Pennbriar Athletic Club.