MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Millersville men's tennis made a statement on Friday. Shaking off three one-point losses from early in the season, the Marauders scored an impressive 5-2 victory over a three-time defending PSAC champ Mercyhurst.
Millersville (2-4, 2-1 PSAC) handed Mercyhurst (4-5, 3-1 PSAC) its first PSAC dual loss since 2016, ending a string of 13-consecutive wins in conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Millersville picked up the dual's first point by winning two of three doubles matches.
Carlos Martinez-Lucas and
Frank Yanni won the No. 1 flight by a 6-3 score.
Santiago Ramos and
Zach Pernia paired for a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles.
• While Meryhurst's Unai Amilleta Gonzalez handed Martinez-Lucas his first PSAC loss at No. 1 singles, the rest of the singles lineup stepped up in a big way. At No. 2 singles, Yanni rallied from a 6-3 loss in the first set to gut out tiebreaker wins in the second and third sets, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4). Similarly, Ramos lost a tiebreaker in the first set and bounced back to win the second (6-4) and third (6-4). Fellman did the same after a 6-2 loss in the opening set at No. 4 singles. He rallied for 6-1, 6-4 wins in sets two and three.
Zach Pernia scored a one-sided 6-2, 6-0 win in the sixth spot.
POST MATCH REACTION FROM COACH MATT HELSEL
•
On the significance of the win: "After losing three matches by 4-3 margins, you start to wonder if there could be any lingering psychological effects. Today answered that question for us. We're just tough. We may win, we may lose, but we will throw everything at you and push you to your limit."
•
On the key to victory: "The key today was relentless effort. We never went away, even when it looked like we weren't quite going to have enought o get over the top. We just don't go away. We do not yield. Those are the most dangerous teams to play--teams that relish the battle. That's us. And as much as we can ejoy this, we have to turn right around and play another tough team tomorrow."
NOTES
• Mercyhurst entered the dual ranked No. 5 in the Oracle/ITA Atlantic Regional rankings. Millersville was ranked No. 8.
• Pernia improved to 5-1 in singles with his win.
UP NEXT
• After knocking off Mercyhurst Friday, Millersville faces the last team standing with an undefeated PSAC record (Edinboro) on Saturday at McComsey Tennis Courts.
