ERIE, Pa. – Although they finished in sixth place with an 0-5 record this season in dual meets against PAC competition, the Bethany College men’s tennis team enjoyed a big first day at the 2010 PAC Championships in Erie, Pa., as they are in third place heading into Saturday.
The Bison have scored 18 points to rank just in front of Washington & Jefferson (16). Grove City has scored 36 points and is rolling towards their 20th consecutive PAC title, while Waynesburg is second with 24.
The morning began with a pair of Bison doubles teams winning their first round matches. At #2, junior Dustin Opalka (Cortland, Ohio/Lancaster) and senior Jay Lyonett (Weirton, W.Va./Brooke) cruised to an 8-2 victory over Johnny Bergman and Meisner from Thomas More, while the #3 duo of sophomore Ryan Rokisky (Weirton, W.Va./Weirton Madonna) and junior Evan Oslund (Oakmont, Pa./Linsly), who were the fifth seed, upset fourth-seeded Justin Mondok and Cameron Sell from Washington & Jefferson, 8-4.
In the semifinals, Opalka and Lyonett matched up with the second-seed Adam Woodruff and Jeff Canning from Waynesburg and advanced with an 8-5 triumph, which raises their record this season to 9-4 overall. It also puts the BC tandem in the final Saturday morning against the Grove City team of Bill DeRocha and Shaun Mills, which will be the first time a Bison doubles team has played for a PAC title since Dominic Costa and Patrick Greene won the 2002 crown at #1 doubles.
The team of Rokisky and Oslund were not able to advance out of the semifinals, losing to Anthony Rosselli and Fuller from Grove City 8-0. However, the Bethany tandem will play on Saturday, taking on Derek Frederickson and Brad Thomas from Westminster in the third place match. The Westminster team edged Rokisky and Oslund 8-6 when the teams squared off in a dual meet March 24.
In singles play, the Bison had one player advance to the championship match in their flight and three others who will play in the consolation final. Earning a spot in the final at #4 was Lyonett, who was seeded second and had a bye into the semifinals. There, he met up with third-seeded Sean Black from Westminster and Lyonett coasted into Saturday with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph, becoming the first BC singles player to make a championship match since Greg Mowrer, the last Bethany student-athlete to earn Academic All-American honors, finished as the runner-up at #3 in 2007.
The other BC players to play their way to Saturday included Opalka at #1, junior Levi Naylor (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) at #3 and Rokisky at #5. Opalka won his first round match 6-0, 6-2 over Peter Mally from Waynesburg, but dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to top-seeded Ricky Garrett in the semifinals. In Saturday’s third place match, Opalka will play Andrew Hetzer from Thomas More, who slipped past Opalka 6-4, 6-4 in their March 27 dual meet.
Both Naylor and Rokisky moved to the semifinals with three-set victories in the opening round. Naylor knocked off Bergman from Thomas More 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 but lost to Grove City’s Rosselli in the semifinals, while Rokisky also beat his foe from Thomas More, Shane Campbell, 7-5, 2-6, 10-4 before he was denied a spot in the finals with a loss to Mills from Grove City. Both players will try to avenge losses in the regular season to their opponents Saturday, as Naylor will play #2 seed David DuBois from W&J and Rokisky matches up with the third seed Jason Logan from Waynesburg.
Bethany senior Jason Straw (Cecil, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and Oslund suffered first round losses Friday to complete their season in singles. Straw and Naylor were also defeated in the first round at #1 doubles.
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