ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd men's tennis team has already made history this season, but the Tritons continue to raise the bar as a program as they recorded their fifth sweep of the season with a 9-0 win over Franklin Pierce (N.H.) on Friday afternoon.
The Ravens (3-9) looked to extend their winning streak to three matches, but Eckerd (9-3) had other plans. Once again, the Tritons came out of the gate strong taking all three doubles matches to get things started.
Eddie Lewis and
Jonathan Cheng blanked Logan Sherwood and Dan Longtin 9-0 at No. 3 doubles while
Victor Appelqvist and
Yosua Husodo dropped just one game in their 8-1 victory over Marcus Lawrence and Andrew Schadt at the top spot. At second doubles,
James McManus and
Frazier Springfield grinded out an 8-6 victory over Sonny Bisazza and Oliver Viel.
They continued the momentum into singles play to complete the sweep.
"It's been key for us to start strong going into singles," said head coach
Ben Maxwell. "Everyone kept focus and dictated the entire afternoon."
At No. 1 singles, Appelqvist endured the toughest battle of the day as Bisazza looked to spoil the sweep. The two foes had yet to finish their first set by the time the other five singles matches were won by Eckerd, but both men continued the fight while their teammates watched from the sidelines. In the end, Appelqvist took the victory 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.
The Tritons had a trio of sweeps in four, five, and six singles as Lewis, Springfield, and Cheng handled their opposition. Husodo was victorious at No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-2 while
James McManus won at third singles 6-2, 6-1.
Maxwell hopes his team can take wins like this one and use it as momentum going forward.
"Our goal is to continue to stay positive as we have more competitive matches coming up."
EC's next dual match is set for Sunday at the Bullard Courts as the three seniors will be honored for Senior Day against Merrimack College. That match is scheduled for 10:00 AM.
Eckerd 9, Franklin Pierce 0
Mar 18, 2016 at St. Petersburg, Fla. (Fred Bullard Courts)
