BOX SCORE

In the closest Presidents' Athletic Conference tennis championship in years the Saint Vincent College men's tennis team lost to Grove City by two points at the 2013 PAC Men's Tennis Championship.  The Wolverines won five of the nine flights; had the Bearcats captured just one more flight the results would have been reversed and they would have secured their first ever conference championship.

The day started off well for Saint Vincent when David Cenkner and Anthony Nemanic dominated at first doubles as they have done all season.  The duo beat Grove City's Peter Riley and Caleb Fuller 8-4.

Both second and third doubles were nailbiters.  Tony Costantino and Chris Andrejcik lost 8-6 at second doubles against the strong tandem of Anthony Rosselli and Colby Beighey.  At third doubles Sean Malone and Nathan Walch found themselves down a break three times, but they managed to level the match on each occasion.  Finally, Grove City's Blake Brogan and Jonathan Graber broke serve a fourth time with the score at 7-7 and Brogan held to secure the 9-7 victory.

At this point, Saint Vincent needed to win four of the six singles positions.

Just like in the regular season, Cenkner and Costantino took care of business at first and second singles.  Cenkner beat Riley in straight sets, and by winning the first singles flight he earned PAC MVP honors, the first player in Bearcat history to do so.  Costantino played one of the best matches of his career and beat Fuller 6-4, 6-0.

The Wolverines' Rosselli captured the third singles flight for the third consecutive year when he beat Nemanic in two sets.  Nemanic was injured early on in the match, but he fought on against his crafty opponent to the very end.

Walch embodied the team theme of “Rise Up” at fourth singles when he defeated Beighey 6-3, 6-1.  Walch, who got the #3 seed, was one of only three players or doubles team to win their flight while seeded lower than second.

At sixth singles Malone struggled against his opponent's solid all-around game and lost 6-3, 6-3.

Andrejcik won the first set in the finals of his match in the fifth singles flight; however, Grove City's Brogan stepped up his game and took the last two sets 6-4, 6-2.

Cenkner, Costantino, Nemanic, and Walch earned first team All-PAC honors for their victories while Malone, Andrejcik, Nemanic, Costantino, and Walch received second team All-PAC honors for their runner-up finishes.

DAY ONE SUMMARY

The Saint Vincent Bearcat men's tennis team rolled through the preliminary and semi-final rounds of doubles and singles play in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship, with all three teams and all singles singles competitors advancing to tomorrow's title matches.

The #1 doubles team of Dave Cenkner and Anthony Nemanic were 8-0 winners in the opening round over their counterparts from Waynesburg.  They advanced to the championship with an 8-1 win over a team from Thiel.

In the #2 position, Chris Andrejcik and Tony Costantino were 8-0 winners over Thomas More, then defeated a duo from Westminster, 8-2.

Sean Malone and Nathan Walch, playing as the #3 doubles tandem, were 8-2 winners over Waynesburg and 8-5 victors over Westminster.

On Saturday, all three teams will face their counterparts from Grove City College, the longstanding perennial PAC champs. Cenkner and Nemanic will face Peter Riley and Caleb Fuller for the #1 title.  Andrejcik and Costantino will face Anthony Roselli and Colby Beighey.  Malone and Walch will face Blake Brogan and Jonathan Graber.

All six Bearcats also won their opening round singles matches in straight sets, then moved through the semi-final round with victories as well.  Meanwhile, their counterparts from Grove City did as well, setting up an all Saint Vincent-Grove City matchup in both singles and doubles on Saturday in Erie.