Grace Murphy
Social Media Manager
The Franciscan men’s tennis team defeated the Capital University Comets 5-4 in its opening home game for the spring season at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The weather was sunny, reaching highs around 70 degrees — perfect for a tennis match.
First up, the No. 3 doubles pair senior Billy Presume and senior Leo Morella defeated Capital 8-4, snatching the first points of the day for the Barons.
Next, the No. 1 pair freshman Travis Mistry and senior Gary Pierre lost their set 8-4. Meanwhile, the No. 2 Barons doubles sophomore Aidan Palladino and senior Josh Robbins lost to Capital by a smaller margin of 8-6.
Moving on to the singles, No. 5 single Palladino easily defeated his Capital opponent 6-1 in the first set and 6-0 in the second set, grabbing a point for the Barons. No. 2 Mistry followed Palladino’s success by winning both sets 6-2 and 6-0. This added another point for the Barons.
Morella followed as the No. 6 single, winning the first set by an easy 6-1 and the second set with a tighter 6-4 score. He was followed by No. 4 single Robbins, who fell to Capital 7-5 and 6-3.
No. 1 single Pierre lost to his Capital opponent by a tight 7-5 in the first set and forced a tie break in his second set. Unfortunately, he lost the tie break 7-3.
Finally, No. 3 single Presume lost his first set 6-4 and forced his second set to a tiebreaker. Presume won the tie break set 6-2, getting the Barons their fifth point for the game, and ending the match 5-4, Barons.
The Franciscan men’s tennis team will travel to Florida for its annual spring break trip. Their first game there is a doubleheader against St. Francis University and Hamline University March 14.