Wesleyan tennis drops trio of non-conference matches

Rocky Mount, NC - The Battling Bishop men's and women's tennis teams of North Carolina Wesleyan dropped a trio of non-conference matches over the weekend. The women fell to Hollins University and Guilford College by 9-0 and 8-1 scores, respectively, while the men dropped a 5-4 heartbreaker to the Quakers in their home opener on Sunday. On a bright note, Wesleyan's Antti Saari (pictured) and Matt Smith remained undefeated in singles play.

The men's match against Guilford on Sunday proved to be a thriller. The Quakers managed a 2-1 lead in doubles play with the Bishops' lone point coming from Saari and Brandon Coleman at the top seed. They managed an 8-2 win over GC's Jose Ortiz and Alec Chase to move to 3-0 on the season at #1 doubles.

In singles play, Saari continued to impress onlookers with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Ortiz at the top slot. Coleman also managed a win at #2 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Chase. Smith was a winner at #4 singles to round out Wesleyan's scoring.

The pivotal point in the match came in the first set of the #5 singles match between NCWC's Mike Harrison and GC's Mike Muir. Muir managed an 11-9 win in the tie-breaker and went on to win the second set 6-4.

On the women's side, Jaime Galasso scored the Bishops' lone point in two matches with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Guilford's Nina Bollag at #1 singles. Unfortunately, Galasso suffered her first loss of the season against Hollins and is now 3-1 at the top seed.

The Bishop men (1-2) and women (0-4) will travel to Virginia State University on Wednesday. The match is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start.