SYDNEY LORENTZ
STAFF WRITER
The Franciscan University of Steubenville’s men’s tennis team dominated in its first Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference match of the season on March 29 held in Wheeling, West Virginia.
The Barons took the lead early on after the doubles play, leading 2-1 against Mount Aloysius. Sophomore Aidan Howard and junior Walter Matt picked up an 8-1 victory in the No. 3 doubles against the Mounties’ pair.
Sophomore Luke Conrad and junior Jack Galla followed suit with an 8-3 victory in the No. 2 doubles. Freshmen Gary Pierre and Billy Presume rounded out doubles play in the No. 1 match with a victory as well.
In singles play, Howard clenched the victory in the No. 6 match, scoring 6-0, 6-1. Matt followed up in the No. 5 match with 6-1, 6-0.
Galla returned to the court with 6-2, 6-1 victory in the No. 4 seed, followed by Presume with 6-2, 6-1 win in the No. 3 match.
Conrad swept the No. 2 singles in 6-2, 6-2, while Pierre clenched the No. 1 victory with scores of 6-4, 1-6, 10-7.
After dominating against the Mounties, the Barons are undefeated in conference play and sit at a 4-9 record overall.
“The team played a very good team in Mount Aloysius,” said head coach Scott Greve. “We are a very young team this year. It was great to see these young men perform at a level I knew they were capable of. The leadership out of these young men has been tremendous.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Greve said, “This was a good test for our team. We have a lot of work to do and some great competition ahead of us, but this was definitely the start we were looking for. Lots of room for improvement, but overall this team looks like it’s ready to move forward.”
The Barons will be back in action Thursday, April 4, at Pitt-Greensburg for another conference match.Their next home game is on April 14 against Penn State Altoona at 1 p.m.