Bethany Men’s Tennis Rolls to Victory Against Muskingum

April 5 – BETHANY, W. Va. – The Bethany College men's tennis team moved to 4-1 overall with a decisive 9-0 victory over Muskingum on Tuesday evening. The Bison have now won three consecutive contests, including back-to-back sweeps over the Fighting Muskies. 

Bethany took control of the match from the start, cruising to a clean sweep in doubles play. The Bison have now won all three doubles points in back-to-back matches.

The freshman duo of Drake Berlin (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) and Rhone Thrash (Parkersburg, W. Va./Parkersburg) have yet to be defeated this season, moving to 5-0 at No. 1 doubles with an 8-1 victory over Rio Hosoi and Gene Montgomery of Muskingum.

The pairings of Kyle Booker (Forest Park, Ga./Forest Park) and Chris Ray (Henrico, Va./Mills E. Godwin), along with Marcus Hooks (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) and Jay O'Donnell (Cardiff, Wales/Radyr Comprehension), also earned doubles victories. Booker and Ray teamed up for their third win of the season with an 8-1 win, while Hooks and O'Donnell won their first match together with an 8-2 victory.

The Bison squad then went on to dominate singles play, taking all six points for the third-straight match. Berlin remained undefeated with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Trayton McHale at No. 2 singles, improving his record to 5-0. 

Thrash took care of business in No. 1 singles, losing just one game in the two sets. Booker earned his fourth consecutive win with a 6-0, 6-2 decision at No. 3 singles.

Hooks and Ray captured victories at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively. Hooks defeated Montgomery by scores of 6-0, 6-1, while Ray was perfect in the opening set (6-0) before earning the 6-2 victory in set two against Hosoi.

O'Donnell earned his first win in singles play after taking down Paul Van Horn in No. 6 singles. O'Donnell impressed in his first match for Bethany, defeating Van Horn 6-3, 6-2.

The Bison have continued to build on their best record to open a season in recent memory, and they will look to keep that momentum going when they return to the courts on Wednesday, April 6 to take on Grove City at 3:30 p.m.