April 18, 2009
Wolverines win 19th straight title
ERIE, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's tennis team captured its 19th straight Presidents' Athletic Conference title Saturday afternoon at the Pennbriar Racquet Club. Grove City earned a perfect team score of 54 points in winning the conference title. Washington & Jefferson took second with 27 points while Waynesburg placed third with 23. Westminster (18), Thomas More (11) and Bethany (2) rounded out the field.
The Wolverines crowned champions in all nine flights of competition while also sweeping the league's individual awards. Senior John Moyer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) earned PAC Player of the Year honors for the second straight season while coach Joe Walters is the conference's Coach of the Year.
Moyer earned Player of the Year status after winning the conference title with a 6-2, 7-5 win over W&J's Christopher Faulk at first singles Saturday afternoon. In Friday's semifinals, Moyer downed Westminster's Stefan Hadricky 6-1, 6-0.
At second singles, sophomore Ricky Garrett (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) won the No. 2 singles title by defeating W&J's Pat Kennedy, 6-1 and 7-5. Garrett reached the finals with a 6-4, 6-1 semifinal win over Westminster's Fred Romeo Friday.
Junior Peter Davis (Indianapolis, Ind./Heritage Christian) won the PAC title at No. 3 singles by topping W&J's Lionel Grimaldi in the finals, 6-1 and 6-0. Davis decisioned Waynesburg's Peter Mally in Friday's semifinals 6-0, 6-1.
Senior Jeremy Dwyer (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg) used a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Waynesburg's Emile Khoury to capture the conference title at fourth singles. Dwyer advanced to the finals Friday by sweeping W&J's David DuBois 6-0, 6-0.
At No. 5 singles, sophomore Marc Mentzer (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) topped W&J's Matthew Varacallo in the finals 6-2, 6-2. Friday, Mentzer picked up a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Westminster's Derek Fredrickson in the semifinals.
Senior Kyle Johnson (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator) completed Grove City's singles sweep with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Waynesburg's Dustin Cozad. Johnson did not drop a game in the semifinals Friday, sweeping Westminster's J.D. Eicher 6-0, 6-0.
Johnson and Moyer pulled out the conference title at first doubles by claiming a 9-8 win over W&J's Kennedy and Faulk. The Johnson-Moyer combo downed Hadricky and Romeo in Friday's semifinals 8-1.
At second doubles, Davis and Garrett secured an 8-4 victory over W&J's Grimaldi-DuBois in the championship round. Davis-Garrett reached the finals with an 8-3 win over Westminster's Mark Drabick and Scott Lawrence Friday.
Dwyer teamed with classmate Jon Pombo (Marietta, Pa./Donegal) for the conference title at third doubles. That tandem downed Waynesburg's Cozad and Adam Woodruff in the finals 8-1. The Dwyer-Pombo team advanced from the semifinals Friday with an 8-1 win over the Thomas More combination of Drake Dunham and David Megel.
Dwyer completes his career as an eight-time PAC champion. Johnson owns seven PAC titles while Moyer is a six-time conference champ. Saturday's title is the first for Pombo in his collegiate career.
Grove City (9-4) will wrap up the 2009 season next Saturday, April 25 against Walsh.
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