Jonathan Prichard claimed his third straight conference Player of the Year award after winning the individual championship in first singles at the Presidents' Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Championships, which were hosted in Erie, Pennsylvania. Saint Vincent finished fourth in the team standings at the annual event.
Prichard, who entered the tournament as the #5 seed, defeated Miguel Ascencio of Westminster in the championship match in first singles. Prichard won the title by scores of 7-5 and 7-6 (7-5). Prichard is the league's first player to earn PAC Player of the Year honors in three-straight seasons since Grove City's Patrick Donahue (2001-03).
Oskin earned his second straight individual title at #2 singles, beating Jeffrey Schenk of Thomas More in the championship match. Oskin used scores of 6-2 and 6-3 to gain a second individual PAC title for Saint Vincent.
Alex DeLuca finished in third place at #6 singles, after winning his consolation match against Wesley Smith of Thomas More.
In doubles action,
Zach Fox and
Ryan Hartz fell by an 8-5 score to Sheldon Preisler/Jeffrey Schenk of Thomas More in the #2 doubles championship match.
DeLuca and
Luke Good dropped an 8-5 decision in the consolation match at #3 doubles to Logan Daniels and Brandon Kwok of Thomas More.
Thomas More claimed the team title with 45 points, while Grove City was second with 35. W&J finished third with 35, just in front of Saint Vincent, who tallied 30 team points. Westminster (21), Geneva (17), Waynesburg (12), Thiel (6) and Bethany (3) rounded out the competing teams at the event.
Friday's Recap
Jonathan Prichard, the 2-time and reigning PAC MVP, is in the running for his third straight title, after winning his quarterfinal match in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) and his semifinal match, 6-3, 7-5. Prichard entered the tournament as the #5 seed in first singles.
Jon Oskin has earned a trip to the championship match at #2 singles, breezing through the quarterfinal match (6-2, 6-0) before battling through a tough matchup in the semis. Oskin defeated Zack Sprunger of Grove City 6-3 in the first set, but lost the second set 6-1. He then bounced back and captured the third set, 6-3.
Alex DeLuca, playing #6 singles, was a winner in his quarterfinal match in straight sets, but lost a pair of 7-5 sets in the semifinal. DeLuca will play in the consolation match on day two.
The other Bearcat singles players,
Ryan Hartz (#3),
Zach Fox (#4) and
Riley Maruca (#5), were unable to advance past the quarterfinal round. Fox took his match to a third set tiebreaker, dropping the first set, 6-3, winning the second set, 7-5, then falling 10-2 in the tiebreaker.
In doubles, Prichard and Oskin were upset in the first round, falling to the #1 doubles team from Westminster by a score of 8-6. At #3 doubles, DeLuca and
Luke Good were winners in the quarterfinals in a close match, 9-7, over a duo from Geneva. They were unable to win their semifinal match (8-3) so they will compete in the consolation match on day two.
At #2 doubles, Hartz and Fox defeated a pairing from Waynesburg in the opening round, 9-7, then were winners in the semifinals, 8-5 over their counterparts from Grove City. Hartz and Fox will play for the #2 doubles championship on day two.
