Wilkes Men's Tennis: Ranger Invitational Day 2
MADISON, N.J. – The Wilkes University men's tennis team made two doubles finals appearances on day two of the Ranger Invitational hosted by Drew University on Sunday.
Results
After round robin play on Saturday, two Colonel pairings were slotted in the A Flight for the playoff rounds. In the quarterfinals, the duo of Courtney Murphy (Bronx, NY/Christopher Columbus) and Andrew MacDonald (Bridgeton, NJ/Cumberland Regional) advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3 win over Dickinson College. The other Wilkes pairing of Jonathan White (Saylorsburg, PA/Pleasant Valley) and Chris Maderitz (York, PA/Central York) also moved on to the semifinals with a 6-3 victory over Drew University but fell in their semifinals match to another duo from Dickinson 2-6.
Murphy / MacDonald kept the Colonels' championship hopes alive by taking their semifinal match over a third duo from Dickinson by a score of 6-2 to square off in the A Flight finals against the Dickinson pairing that eliminated their teammates. It was a tightly contested match but one that Wilkes would ultimately lose 4-6 to finish runner-up in the A Flight.
Two more Colonels pairings competed in the B Flight but the duo of Larry Scartz (Woodbridge, VA/Home School) and Isaac Shenton (Saint Thomas, PA/James Buchanan) exited in the quarterfinals after a 3-6 defeat at the hands of Roger Williams University.
The pairing of Braddock Chow (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) and Mike Ellis (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) built off their 4-0 record from Saturday's round robin play by handling Drew, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals. The duo would make it six straight victories as they dispatched Roger Williams 6-4 to move on to the championship. In the finals, Wilkes ran into a Roger Williams pairing that lost only one game in three matches on Sunday as the Colonels fell 6-0 in the B Flight final to register another runner-up finish for the navy and gold.
In C Flight action, the pairing of Jack Maline (Northport, NY/Northport) and Alec Levin (Cape May, NJ/Lower Cape May) were dispatched 4-6 in their quarterfinal match by Roger Williams but Matt Angara (Stewartsville, NJ/Phillipsburg) and Colin Greenman (Glen Gardner, NJ/Voorhees) would get another Wilkes duo to the semifinals with a 6-4 win over Dickinson. The sophomores run would stop there as Roger Williams eliminated the pairing 4-6 to keep the Colonels out of the C Flight finals.
"I was very impressed with the men's team this weekend," said head coach Victor Terranova. "The guys were put into a position to be challenged by the coaching staff and they responded. I'm very pleased with the overall coachability of these men. They were put in uncomfortable positions and rose to the occasion with their effort and willingness to try new things…we got better this weekend".
Several underclassmen had strong showings for the navy and gold with the No. 3-6 doubles pairings standing out in Terranova's mind as the "most impressive" part of the weekend.
Wilkes returns to action on Sunday, March 3rd for a pair of matches against Randolph College (8:30 a.m.) and Warner University (3:30 p.m.) to kick off its spring break trip in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
