HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC – The Wilkes University men's tennis team continued its strong play on its spring break trip scoring a pair of wins Tuesday including a 7-2 victory over Bridgewater College before posting a 5-4 hard-fought win over Baldwin Wallace later in the day.
 
Wilkes moves to 9-0 overall following the two-win day. The Colonels also handed Baldwin Wallace, who entered the match with a perfect 11-0 record, its first loss of the season.
 
Wilkes cruised in the match against Bridgewater taking all three doubles matches before wins in four of six of the singles bouts. Max Appello (Sparta, NJ/Sparta), Michael Kranz (Depew, NY/Lancaster Central), Troy Haas (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) and Artyom Nabokin (Danvers, MA/Danvers) all recorded singles wins for the Colonels.
 
Wilkes ran out to a 3-0 lead after doubles play in the match against Baldwin Wallace only to see its lead slide as Baldwin Wallace claimed four singles matches to take a 4-3 lead. Nabokin scored a win at No. 6 singles to tie the match before Appello clinched the win with a 7-6, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles.
 
Wilkes concludes its spring break trip Thursday with a match against Berry College at 8:30 a.m.
 
Wilkes University 7, Bridgewater College 2
 
Singles competition:
1. Kyle Hartfield (BCMT) def. C. Murphy (WUMT) 7-6, 6-4
2. M. Appello (WUMT) def. Thomas Rishcoff (BCMT) 4-6, 7-5, 2-0, retired
3. Joe Dillenbeck (BCMT) def. A. Lefkandinos (WUMT) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
4. M. Kranz (WUMT) def. Emmett Johnson (BCMT) 6-0, 6-2
5. T. Haas (WUMT) def. Freddie Roberts (BCMT) 6-3, 6-0
6. A. Nabokin (WUMT) def. Nathaniel Horner (BCMT) 6-5, 6-1
 
Doubles competition:
1. C. Murphy/A. Lefkandinos (WUMT) def. Thomas Rishcoff/Joe Dillenbeck (BCMT) 9-7
2. M. Appello/M. Kranz (WUMT) def. Kyle Hartfield/Emmett Johnson (BCMT) 8-4
3. T. Haas/A. Neidig (WUMT) def. Freddie Roberts/Nathaniel Horner (BCMT) 8-6
 
Wilkes University 5, Baldwin Wallace 4
 
Singles competition:
1. Peter Harris (BW-M) def. C. Murphy (WUMT) 6-4, 6-3
2. M. Appello (WUMT) def. Doug Ganim (BW-M) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
3. Kyle Patterson (BW-M) def. M. Kranz (WUMT) 6-3, 7-5
4. Dominic Polifrone (BW-M) def. T. Haas (WUMT) 6-3, 6-2
5. Nathan Katz (BW-M) def. B. Murray (WUMT) 6-4, 6-3
6. A. Nabokin (WUMT) def. Jake Liebler (BW-M) 6-3, 6-0
 
Doubles competition:
1. C. Murphy/T. Haas (WUMT) def. Peter Harris/Doug Ganim (BW-M) 8-5
2. M. Kranz/M. Appello (WUMT) def. Kyle Patterson/Dominic Polifrone (BW-M) 8-5
3. A. Neidig/J. White (WUMT) def. Matt Harris/Kevin Fredrick (BW-M) 9-8 (7-5)