MIDDLETOWN, Pa. -- The Kutztown University men's tennis team moved within a win of the .500 mark, cruising past NCAA Division III Penn State Harrisburg, 7-2, in a non-conference road match at the Hoverter Tennis Complex Saturday afternoon.
Playing under DIII nine-point scoring rules, the Bears came out and took two of the three doubles matches for an early lead.
Ethan Moyer (Wernersville, Pa./Conrad Weiser) and
Kurt Abell (Sinking Spring, Pa./Conrad Weiser) won convincingly over the Nittany Lions' Evan Stillwell and Rishikesh Singh, 8-2, at No. 3. Penn State Harrisburg (7-5) tied the match with an 8-6 win at No. 1, but the KU duo of
Sebastian Arizpe (Puebla, Mexico/Colegio Humboldt de Puebla) and
Justin Gincauskas (Mississauga, Ontario/Cawthra Park Secondary) held off Nick Rohn and Andrew Schreck, 8-7, at No. 2.
Kutztown increased its advantage with three straight wins to open singles play.
Gincauskas handled Schreck 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4 for his fourth win of the season,
Neal Devkaran (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI Catholic) was leading 6-4, 2-1 at No. 2 when his opponent retired and Arizpe remained tied with Gincauskas for the team lead in singles wins with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Aaron Krasley at No. 3.
Caleb Fockens, who was part of the Lions' winning No. 1 doubles team, also claimed Penn State Harrisburg's only singles point with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph at No. 1.
It was not nearly enough to put a scare into the Bears (4-5), though. Moyer beat Rohn 6-4, 6-1 at fifth singles and Abell capped the win with a 6-4, 6-4 sixth singles victory over Derwin Merca.
Kutztown will close its 2021-22 season with a pair of non-conference home matches this week. The Maroon and Gold face Penn State Berks, Wednesday at 3 p.m., and finish with Davis & Elkins at 2 p.m., Saturday.
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