BOX SCORE 1BOX SCORE 2WALLA WALLA, Wash.–The 30th-ranked Swarthmore College men's tennis team (3-1) picked up two convincing victories at the Whitman Invite on Saturday, March 5. The Garnet beat Cal Lutheran 6-3 before routing Lewis & Clark College by an 8-1 score.
In the first match, Swarthmore trailed 1-2 after doubles as
Ari Cepelewicz and
Simon Vernier earned a point with an 8-4 win at second doubles. The Garnet, however, bounced back by winning the first five singles flights. Sophomore
Mark Fallati cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 at first singles while
John Larkin won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. Cepelewicz and
Thomas Vernier also won in straight sets and
Michael Song fought for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 5 singles.
The Garnet nearly swept Lewis & Clark, starting with wins at all three double flights. Fallati and
Josh Powell claimed No. 1 doubles, Cepelewicz and S. Vernier won at No. 2 and the team of Larkin and
Blake Oetting won handily at third, 8-3. Swarthmore once again won the first five singles courts and Powell narrowly fell 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8 in the super tiebreaker) at No. 6.
The Garnet conclude competition at the invite on Sunday, March 6 with a match against host Whitman, who is ranked 18th in the nation by the ITA. Action begins at 1:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. EST).
