WASHINGTON, Pa. — The Marietta College men's tennis team split a pair of matches Saturday (Sept. 29) afternoon at the Washington & Jefferson Fall Invitational. The Pioneers lost the host school, 5-4, before defeating Pitt Greensburg, 8-1. Marietta concludes its fall competition schedule with a 2-3 record.
The first match of the day against W&J (2-0 overall) came down to a pair of three-set singles matches. Marietta's
Eric DeLong (Lowell, Ohio/Marietta) beat Cole Hartman at No. 3 by the scores of 1-6, 6-2 and 10-5 to even the team score at 4-4. At No. 2, Stephen Mehlbaum downed
Jack Hirschfield (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) 6-7, 6-2 and 10-6 to secure the team victory for the Presidents.
W&J took an early 2-1 lead after the doubles matches. At No. 1, Nate Wang and Hartman were 8-6 winners over
Shane Spencer (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion) and Hirschfield. Mehlbaum and Josh Hnat beat DeLong and
Bryce Emerick (Hyndman, Pa./HOPE for Hyndman Charter) at No. 2, 8-2. Marietta got on the board when
Will Watson (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) and
Hanyang Zhang () topped Eric Kmett and Derek Bedillion at No. 3, 8-5.
The Pioneers also got singles wins from Watson and Emerick at Nos. 5 and 6. Watson defeated Kmett, 6-1 and 6-3, while Emerick beat Bedillion, 6-0 and 6-1.
In the No. 1 singles match, Wand was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Spencer. W&J's final point came at No. 4 where Hnat bested Zhang, 6-3 and 7-5.
In the second match of the day, Marietta swept Pitt Greensburg (0-2 overall) in doubles. Spencer and Hirschfield posted an 8-6 win at No. 1 against Turner Price and Vaughn Hunkele. At No. 2, DeLong and Emerick beat Michael Meyer and Francisco Garcia, 8-2. Zhang and Watson completed the sweep with an 8-5 victory over Terrance Madarish and Andrew Oden at No. 3.
The Bobcats' lone point came from Price at No. 1 singles. Price blanked Spencer, 6-0 and 6-0.
Hirschfield and DeLong posted straight-set wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Hirschfield defeated Meyer, 6-0 and 6-2, while DeLong took down Hunkele, 6-4 and 6-0.
At No. 4, Zhang outlasted Madarish, 6-4 and 7-6 (7-4). Watson was a 6-1, 6-0 winner at No. 5 against Oden and Emerick bested Garcia at No. 6, 6-2 and 6-1.
Fans can follow all of the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
