April 21, 2012
Wolverines capture conference title
ERIE, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's tennis team earned its 22nd straight Presidents' Athletic Conference title Saturday afternoon by earning 52 of a possible 54 team points in the two-day conference championships at the Pennbriar Club. Grove City crowned champions in eight of nine flights, including all three doubles draws.
Head coach Joe Walters earned the conference's Coach of the Year award and freshman Peter Riley (Woodbury, Pa./Northern Bedford) earned PAC Player of the Year honors after winning the conference title at first singles.
Riley captured the conference title with a 6-4, 7-5 final-round victory over No. 2 seed Tony Constantino of Saint Vincent. Riley, the top seed, opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-1 quarterfinal victory over Waynesburg's Isaiah Cochran, the No. 8 seed. In the semifinals, Riley rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Westminster's Drew Trifelos, the fourth seed.
At third singles, junior Anthony Rosselli (Poland, Ohio/Poland) dropped just three games on his way to the conference title. He blanked Thomas More's Ben Millman, 6-0, 6-0, in the quarterfinals and then recorded a 6-0, 6-0 semifinal victory over Thiel's Jian Long Zhang, the fifth seed.
In the championship, Rosselli earned a 6-3, 6-0 victory over No. 2 seed Sean Malone of Saint Vincent.
Senior Scott Yanak (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) earned the conference championship at fourth singles with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Saint Vincent's Dan Chirdon. Yanak advanced to the finals with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Westminster's Mike Matisi in the semifinals.
Yanak opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal victory over Thiel's Shun Kogai.
Junior Andrew Deckert (Mechanicsburg, Pa./East Pennsboro) prevailed at fifth singles by winning each of his three matches in straight sets. Deckert downed Thomas More's Andrew Mason in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-0, before securing a 7-5, 6-3 decision over Saint Vincent's Nathan Walch in the semifinals.
Deckert then defeated Westminster's Ryan Carr in the championship match, 6-1, 6-2.
Freshman Colby Beighey (Fombell, Pa./Riverside) earned his first individual conference title by prevailing at No. 6 singles. Beighey defeated Saint Vincent's Chris Andrejcik in the title match, 6-1 and 7-5.
Beighey dropped just one total game in his first two matches. After notching a 6-0, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Thomas More's Michael Stephens, Beighey blanked Washington & Jefferson's Craig Kornick in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-0.
Junior Caleb Fuller (Columbus, Ind./Homeschooled) earned runner-up honors at second singles for Grove City. Fuller, the No. 2 seed in the draw, blanked Westminster's Sean Black in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Fuller outlasted Saint Vincent's Anthony Nemenic, 6-7, 6-0, 6-4. In the title match, top-seeded Eric Thompson of Thomas More pulled out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Fuller.
Riley and Deckert also teamed for a league title at first doubles as they defeated Chirdon and Nemanic in the title match, 9-7. The Riley-Deckert duo defeated Cochran and Colin Phillips of Waynesburg in the quarterfinals 8-2 before beating the Thiel tandem of Richard Parks and Collin McAndrew, 8-4, in the semifinals.
Fuller teamed with Rosselli to win the conference crown at No. 2 doubles as that duo defeated Constantino and Malone in the final round, 8-2. The Fuller-Rosselli team began the tournament with an 8-0 win over Millman and Ricky Barria (Thomas More) in the quarterfinals. The Grove City pairing then blanked Westminster's Black and Matisi in the second round, 8-0.
Beighey and Yanak earned the league championship at third doubles by dropping just three total games in three matches. Beighey-Yanak earned an 8-1 win over Thiel's Roger Irby and Eric Serjeant in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Grove City pairing rolled to an 8-0 win over the Waynesburg team of Philip Littlejohn and Jason Logan.
In the finals, Beighey and Yanak combined for an 8-2 victory over Andrejcik and Walch of Saint Vincent.
As conference champion, Grove City earns an automatic invitation to the 2012 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in May.
Saint Vincent finished second with 34 points and Westminster took third with 20.
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