EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University men's tennis team inched closer to clinching the top seed in next week's MAC Freedom Tournament posting an 8-1 victory over cross-town rival King's College Tuesday afternoon at the Kirby Park Courts.
 
Wilkes improved to 17-5 overall and remained unbeaten at 5-0 in MAC Freedom play. King's, meanwhile, slipped to 11-6 overall and 4-1 in league matches while seeing its seven-match winning streak come to an end. Wilkes can clinch the top seed with a win in its conference finale against FDU-Florham on Saturday. FDU-Florham enters with a 4-1 league record.
 
Wilkes raced out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play winning both No. 2 and No. 3 pairs. The Colonels then swept all six singles flights on way to the victory. Courtney Murphy (Bronx, NY/Christopher Columbus), Artyom Nabokin (Las Vegas, NV/Danvers), Jonathan White (Saylorsburg, PA/Pleasant Valley), Andrew Neidig (Matamoras, PA/Delaware Valley), Chris Maderitz (York, PA/Central York) and Ryan Simon (Mahwah, NJ/De Paul Diocesan) all won in straight sets.
 
Wilkes closes out the regular season Saturday hosting FDU-Florham at 10:30 a.m. before a non-conference match against Goucher College at 2:00 p.m. both at the Ralston Athletic Complex.
 
Wilkes University 8, King's College 1
 
Singles competition:
1. C. Murphy (WUMT) def. Nathan Carl (KINGSMT) 6-1, 6-0
2. A. Nabokin (WUMT) def. Tyler Millan (KINGSMT) 6-4, 7-6 (10-3)
3. J. White (WUMT) def. Terry Briggs (KINGSMT) 6-2, 6-1
4. A. Neidig (WUMT) def. Austin Mackey (KINGSMT) 6-0, 6-1
5. C. Maderitz (WUMT) def. Cameron Tuck (KINGSMT) 6-1, 6-1
6. R. Simon (WUMT) def. Jason Homschek (KINGSMT) 6-0, 6-0
 
Doubles competition:
1. Nathan Carl/Tyler Millan (KINGSMT) def. C. Murphy/J. White (WUMT) 8-6
2. A. Nabokin/B. Chow (WUMT) def. Austin Mackey/Ryan Kopishke (KINGSMT) 8-1
3. A. Neidig/L. Scartz (WUMT) def. Terry Briggs/Cameron Tuck (KINGSMT) 8-1