BETHANY- The Bethany College men’s tennis team claimed five out of six singles matches to score a 6-3 victory over Franciscan Wednesday in their season opener.
In addition to improving to 1-0, the Bison won their first match since a 6-3 decision over Washington & Jefferson in April, 2007, snapping a 21-match losing streak.
Following doubles play, Bethany was trailing 2-1. After #1 and #2 tandems were defeated, the duo of sophomore Ryan Rokisky (Weirton, W.Va./Weirton Madonna) and junior Evan Oslund (Oakmont, Pa./Linsly) battled back from a 6-2 deficit and claimed a 9-8 (2) victory to give the Green and White momentum heading into singles.
The Bison began singles action by taking the top three flights. Junior Dustin Opalka (Cortland, Ohio/Lakeview) and junior Levi Naylor (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) recovered from second-set losses to win at #1 (6-4, 4-6, 6-2) and #3 (7-6, 0-6, 6-4), respectively. BC moved within one of victory when senior Jason Straw (Cecil, Pa./Canon-McMillan) scored a 6-2, 7-5 triumph at #2.
The clinching win occurred at #4, where senior Jay Lyonett (Weirton, W.Va./Brooke) won in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to end the losing skid. Oslund added one more win to the docket with a 6-4, 7-5 decision at #6.
Bethany will return to the courts Wednesday with a 1 p.m. match at Saint Vincent.
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