April 6, 2010

Franciscan versus Frostburg: Round Two

STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan University of Steubenville Barons tennis team fought hard but was unable to pull out a win against conference foe Frostburg State Tuesday afternoon, losing 6-3. The Barons now hold an overall season standing of 1-7, and a 1-5 record within the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

Matt Alexander was the bright spot for the Barons, winning both his singles and his doubles matches.

In the number one doubles match, Nick Cundiff and Andrew Straub lost to Mike Stevenson and Ramon Gutierriez 8-2. Alexander and his partner, Chris Cooper, beat Tyler Forster and Eddie McMurtrie 8-2. The Frostburg Bobcats took the last match when Christian Ernst and Zach Rupp beat Clark Thompson and Joey Alvarez 8-1.

The singles matches proved much of the same. Number one seeded player for the Barons, Cooper fell to Stevenson 6-3, 6-2. Straub lost his first set to Gutierriez 2-6, but fought hard and came back to win the match 6-4, 6-4. In the number three match, Cundiff eventually fell to McMurtrie 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Alexander continued to play well, beating Ernst 7-5, 6-3 in the number four match. Brad Mathisen played a tough match against Josh Galvez, winning the first set 6-3, then losing the second set 3-6. The final set went into a tiebreak, but Galvez eventually pulled away to give the Bobcats another win 7-6(7-3). Paul Rooke gave Frostburg the final win of the day, beating Thompson 6-1, 6-2.

Despite the loss, Coach Curtis Allen was pleased with the team's performance: “I am proud of the guys. We played this team yesterday and lost hard (8-1). But today we gave ourselves chances to win. We lost a lot of close ones. The guys played really well and really tough.”

The Barons take a break from conference action to play Muskingum College on Wednesday, April 7, at 4 p.m. at Belleview Park.