Men’s Tennis Opens Season at Stonehill Doubles Invitational Saturday

EASTON, Mass.- The reigning Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) champion Eastern Nazarene College men's tennis team kicked off the 2019-20 campaign Saturday at the Stonehill Doubles Invitational

The Lions sent four duos to the eight-team tournament and finished with a combined 6-6 record on the day.

Henry Siercke (Hamburg, Germany) and Julius Opaschowski (Hamburg, Germany) went 2-1 in the A flight. The pair dropped a 6-2 decision to Stonehill's Trent Newman and Russell White in the opening round. Siercke and Opaschowski rebounded to claim wins over Roger Williams' Brendan White and Dan Tacco and Assumption's Brandon Sze and Jameson Keppeler in the consolation bracket.

Mecena Salles (Maraba, Brazil) and Sven Grunenwald (Winden, Germany) finished with a 1-2 record on the day in the B flight. The tandem topped Endicott's Charles Book and Alex Brennan 6-3 to reach the semifinals. After falling to Evan Goldsmith and SangJin Song from Connecticut College, Salles and Grunenwald fell 6-3 to Brady Ryan and Ethan Hall from Assumption in the third-place match.

In the C flight, Diego Rodriguez (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) and Kyle Pierson (Redding, Calif.) posted a 2-1 record. The duo absorbed a 6-3 loss to Connecticut College's Zachary Danz and Brian Gould in the opening matchup. Rodriguez and Pierson bounced back to earn wins over Roger Williams' Jake Cole and Ryan Schuck and Assumption's Michael Butkus and Luke Whitehouse in the consolation bracket.

Jesus Lucart (Wylie, Texas) and Baldo Karinja (Zadar, Croatia) compiled a 1-2 record in the D flight. The pair edged Wheaton's Dan O'Neill and Jack Luyrink in their first match of the day. Lucart and Karinja suffered a 6-3 setback to Stonehill's Joey Conrod and Aaron Diamond before falling to Stonehill's Juan Riano Rojas and Ben Simmons in the third-place match.

Eastern Nazarene returns to action September 14-15 at the Emerson Invitational.