Box Score Fredericksburg, VA. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland men's tennis team earned their first NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament victory this Friday, defeating Penn State Behrend 5-1 in the first round. This win marked the first NCAA tournament win in program history.
How It Happened:
Doubles
-
The Seahawks claimed a 2-1 advantage following the doubles session.
-
Junior captain Stephen Alam (Ellicott City, Md./Marriotts Ridge) and sophomore Kier Nacua (La Plata, Md./La Plata) dropped their match in the No. 1 spot, falling 8-6 to the Nittany Lions
-
The first team point came in the second match, as the duo of senior captain Sam Sheats (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) and first-year Tyler VanValkenburg (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) collected a dominant 8-1 win over Evan Dean and Alex Graeca.
-
Sophomores Nick Rohr (Fairfax County, Va./Robinson) and Keawe Shepherd Johnson (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) picked up the second team point with an 8-1 win in the third spot, dropping Belden Tuttle and Mathew Mccullough of Penn State Behrend.
Singles
-
Keawe Shepherd Johnson got the Seahawks one step closer to the five point decision mark with a convincing 6-0, 6-0 match over Dean in the fifth spot.
-
Sheets put together another piece of the puzzle when he too took care of business 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 3 spot to move St. Mary's within striking distance of closing out the day
-
The Seahawks knew that they would advance when Rohr put together a fabulous 6-1, 6-1 win in the No. 3 singles spot.
Up Next for the Seahawks
Facebook: StMarysAthletics | Instagram: @smcseahawks, @smcmtennis
Twitter: @smcseahawks, @SMCMtennis | Hashtags: #GoSeahawks #SeahawkPROUD #SweepTheSheds
