Men’s Tennis Tops Wilkes 8-1, Falls to Spring Arbor 8-1

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's tennis team wrapped up its trip to the Palmetto State with an 8-1 win over Wilkes and an 8-1 setback to NAIA team Spring Arbor Friday.

The Lions progress to 3-5 on the year with the results. The Colonels fall to 1-2 overall while the Cougars improve to 10-7 on the season.

In the squad's first match of the day, Eastern Nazarene cruised past Wilkes 8-1.

Laurent Ruttkowski (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) and Henry Siercke (Hamburg, Germany) breezed by Matthew Angara and Michael Ellis 8-1 at the No. 1 doubles spot.

Sven Grunenwald (Winden, Germany) and Diego Rodriguez (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) earned an 8-5 win at the second doubles position over Chris Maderitz and Alec Levin.

Alberto Escobar (Sevilla, Spain) and Kyle Pierson (Redding, Calif.) claimed an 8-3 victory over Jack Maline and Jolen Nortey at the No. 3 slot.

The Lions notched five singles wins to secure their third-consecutive victory.

Siercke triumphed 7-6, 6-2 at the No. 1 singles position over Maderitz to record his team-leading fourth singles victory.

Ruttkowski registered his first singles win of the year as he outlasted Larry Scartz in a third-set super-tiebreaker at the second spot. After dropping the first set 6-3, the senior clawed back to edge Scartz 7-5 in the second frame before prevailing 10-8 in the super-tiebreaker.

Escobar topped Ellis 6-2, 6-2 at the third slot while Rodriguez rolled past Angara 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 4 position and Grunenwald coasted to an 8-2 win at the No. 5 singles spot.

Jesus Lucart (Wylie, Texas) absorbed an 8-4 setback in the sixth singles match against Colin Greenman.

In its final match of the week, Eastern Nazarene dropped an 8-1 decision to Spring Arbor.

Ruttkowski and Siercke endured an 8-2 loss at the top doubles spot to Brendan Bentley and Ryan MacLean.

Grunenwald and Rodriguez fell 8-1 to Patrick Doerr and Connor Mogle at the No. 2 position.

Escobar and Pierson dropped a narrow 8-7 decision at the No. 3 slot to Jonah Engle and Alex Reinbold.

Rodriguez notched the Lions' lone singles victory in the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win at the No. 4 spot over Bentley.

Siercke suffered a 7-5, 7-6 setback to MacLean in a hard-fought match at the No. 1 position. Ruttkowski absorbed a 6-1, 6-2 loss at the second slot to Mogle.

Escobar fell in a third-set super-tiebreaker at the No. 3 spot against Reinbold. After Escobar earned a 6-4 victory in the opening frame, Reinbold rolled to a 6-0 decision in the second set before claiming the super-tiebreaker 10-5.

Engle edged Carlos Gomez (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) in a third-set super-tiebreaker in the fifth singles match. Gomez battled back from dropping the first set 6-2 to capture the second 6-3. Engle clinched the win with a narrow 10-8 decision in the super-tiebreaker.

Pierson endured a 6-3, 6-4 loss at the No. 6 position to Doerr.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene is slated to visit Lesley March 14 to open Great Northeast Athletic Conference action.