ERIE, Pa. \u2013 Although they finished in sixth place with an 0-5 record this season in dual meets against PAC competition, the Bethany College men\u2019s tennis team enjoyed a big first day at the 2010 PAC Championships in Erie, Pa., as they are in third place heading into Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Bison have scored 18 points to rank just in front of Washington & Jefferson (16). Grove City has scored 36 points and is rolling towards their 20th consecutive PAC title, while Waynesburg is second with 24.<\/p>\n
The morning began with a pair of Bison doubles teams winning their first round matches. At #2, junior Dustin Opalka (Cortland, Ohio\/Lancaster) and senior Jay Lyonett (Weirton, W.Va.\/Brooke) cruised to an 8-2 victory over Johnny Bergman and Meisner from Thomas More, while the #3 duo of sophomore Ryan Rokisky (Weirton, W.Va.\/Weirton Madonna) and junior Evan Oslund (Oakmont, Pa.\/Linsly), who were the fifth seed, upset fourth-seeded Justin Mondok and Cameron Sell from Washington & Jefferson, 8-4.<\/p>\n
In the semifinals, Opalka and Lyonett matched up with the second-seed Adam Woodruff and Jeff Canning from Waynesburg and advanced with an 8-5 triumph, which raises their record this season to 9-4 overall. It also puts the BC tandem in the final Saturday morning against the Grove City team of Bill DeRocha and Shaun Mills, which will be the first time a Bison doubles team has played for a PAC title since Dominic Costa and Patrick Greene won the 2002 crown at #1 doubles.<\/p>\n
The team of Rokisky and Oslund were not able to advance out of the semifinals, losing to Anthony Rosselli and Fuller from Grove City 8-0. However, the Bethany tandem will play on Saturday, taking on Derek Frederickson and Brad Thomas from Westminster in the third place match. The Westminster team edged Rokisky and Oslund 8-6 when the teams squared off in a dual meet March 24.<\/p>\n
In singles play, the Bison had one player advance to the championship match in their flight and three others who will play in the consolation final. Earning a spot in the final at #4 was Lyonett, who was seeded second and had a bye into the semifinals. There, he met up with third-seeded Sean Black from Westminster and Lyonett coasted into Saturday with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph, becoming the first BC singles player to make a championship match since Greg Mowrer, the last Bethany student-athlete to earn Academic All-American honors, finished as the runner-up at #3 in 2007.<\/p>\n
The other BC players to play their way to Saturday included Opalka at #1, junior Levi Naylor (Uhrichsville, Ohio\/Claymont) at #3 and Rokisky at #5. Opalka won his first round match 6-0, 6-2 over Peter Mally from Waynesburg, but dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to top-seeded Ricky Garrett in the semifinals. In Saturday\u2019s third place match, Opalka will play Andrew Hetzer from Thomas More, who slipped past Opalka 6-4, 6-4 in their March 27 dual meet.<\/p>\n
Both Naylor and Rokisky moved to the semifinals with three-set victories in the opening round. Naylor knocked off Bergman from Thomas More 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 but lost to Grove City\u2019s Rosselli in the semifinals, while Rokisky also beat his foe from Thomas More, Shane Campbell, 7-5, 2-6, 10-4 before he was denied a spot in the finals with a loss to Mills from Grove City. Both players will try to avenge losses in the regular season to their opponents Saturday, as Naylor will play #2 seed David DuBois from W&J and Rokisky matches up with the third seed Jason Logan from Waynesburg.<\/p>\n
Bethany senior Jason Straw (Cecil, Pa.\/Canon-McMillan) and Oslund suffered first round losses Friday to complete their season in singles. Straw and Naylor were also defeated in the first round at #1 doubles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ERIE, Pa. \u2013 Although they finished in sixth place with an 0-5 record this season in dual meets against PAC competition, the Bethany College men\u2019s tennis team enjoyed a big first day at the 2010 PAC Championships in Erie, Pa., as they are in third place heading into Saturday. The Bison have scored 18 points […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college"],"yoast_head":"\n