BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Kutztown University men's tennis battled four-time reigning conference champion Edinboro hard before falling, 5-0, in the PSAC semifinals at Bloomsburg's Burt Reese Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.
The Fighting Scots (12-5-1) advance to Friday evening's championship match, where they'll face the winner of Bloomsburg and Millersville at 7 p.m. Kutztown ends its best season since 2018 with a 13-5 overall record.
Edinboro swept doubles but not before the Maroon and Gold put up challenges at No. 2 and No. 3. The second pair of
Emmitt Robinson (Ingersoll, Ontario/Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute) and
Linus Vennekold (Laatzen, Germany/) pushed Fabricio Sosa Pons and Leon Grassnickel in a 6-4 loss.
Joaquin Perez (Pachuca, Mexico/Escuela Americana) and
Terrell Arejola (Quezon City, Philippines/Southville International School and Colleges) took three games off Thomas Buchard and Gerardo Garrido in a 6-3 setback at No. 3.
The lead for the Fighting Scots blossomed to 3-0 on the strength of 6-0, 6-0 wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles.
Henrique Rocha (Jaticua, Brazil/Escola SEB Maceio) stayed with the regionally ranked Buchard for most of their match at No. 3, but Buchard took it 6-4, 6-3. The final match played to completion came at No. 5, where Arsen Tabaldyev topped Robinson 6-1, 6-4. No. 4 and No. 6 singles did not play to completion with the match decided, though No. 6 Vennekold was even in the second set with Garrido (4-6, 5-5) before play was stopped.
Along with qualifying for the PSAC Championship tournament for the first time since 2018, Kutztown secured its most wins (13) since amassing 14 victories in 2014-15.
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