Grace Murphy
Staff Writer
The Franciscan University of Steubenville men’s tennis team lost 5-4 to the Baldwin Wallace University Yellow Jackets at its first match of the season Saturday at 4 p.m.
Senior Gary Pierre and freshman Travis Mistry started off for the Barons as the No. 1 doubles team to play. They were defeated by the Yellow Jackets 8-5.
Next, graduate student Aidan Howard and freshman Josh Robbins played a close match as the No. 2 doubles team. They defeated Baldwin Wallace 8-6 and scored the first point for the Barons.
Senior Billy Presume and freshman Leo Morella then played as the No. 3 doubles team. They played Baldwin Wallace to a tiebreaker, and ultimately fell to the Yellow Jackets 7-5.
Mistry played as the No. 3 single. He won the first set 6-0 and Baldwin Wallace won the second set 7-6. In the forced third set, Mistry won 6-1.
Howard played as the No. 4 single. He lost his first set 6-3 but won his second set 7-6 to force a third set. He defeated Baldwin Wallace 6-3 in the third set.
Sophomore Aiden Palladino played as the No. 5 single and won his two sets 6-0 and 6-2. Sophomore Pablo Lloyd, the No. 6 single, lost his match to Baldwin Wallace 6-4 and 6-3. Pierre played as the No. 1 single and lost his match to Baldwin Wallace 6-3 and 6-2.
No. 2 single Presume played the 4-4 tie-breaking match between the Barons and the Yellow Jackets. He lost his first set 6-1 but won his second set 6-4 to force a third set, which concluded with a 6-3 win for the Yellow Jackets.
The Barons’ next home game will be against Wittenberg University Tigers Sunday Oct. 3. The Barons have not played against Wittenberg since 2016.