EDWARDSVILLE, PA (April 13, 2021) -- In what was one of the most competitive King's College-Wilkes University men's tennis matches in years, the Monarchs pushed the perennial Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) contenders to the brink but couldn't close out enough matches in falling 7-2 in action from the Ralston Athletic Complex Tuesday afternoon. 

In doubles, King's (2-2, 1-1 MAC Freedom) ) was able to earn an early lead as first-year Joe Lennon teamed with sophomore Sam Cadman to roll to an 8-1 win over Matt Angara and Connor Murphy. Wilkes (5-0, 2-0 MAC Freedom) would tie the match at a win apiece with an 8-3 win at No. 1 singles, but the most competitive match in pairs came at No. 2. King's duo of senior Austin Mackey and junior Nick Harth pushed the game to a tiebreak against Cole Gibson and Colin Greenman, but couldn't get the momentum in the breaker in dropping the match 8-7 (3). 

In singles play, three of the six matches went to extra games throughout, though Wilkes took a 3-1 match edge after a victory at No. 3. Jacob Boxler of Wilkes would knock off Cadman 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 to make the match 4-1, while the Colonels earned the win at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win by Gibson over Mackey. The remaining matches would all be close though, starting at No. 5 singles. Lennon fell 6-2 in the opening set, but responded to push the second set to a 6-5 scoreline, forcing Angara to win a seventh game or go to a tie-break. Unfortunately for King's Angara would earn that seventh game to take the match. 

At No. 4 singles, senior Jason Homschek fell 6-2 in the first set but returned the favor in the second set to take a 6-2 set victory to push the match to a super-tiebreaker. In the extra stanza, both Homschek and Greenman played well but Greenman was able to nudge past for the 10-7 victory. The lone win in singles for King's came at No. 2 singles, thanks to another strong performance from sophomore Logan Gregory. Gregory dropped a contested 6-4 decision in set one, but dominated the second in a 6-1 set victory to force the match to the super. In the breaker, Gregory used that momentum to secure the 10-3 win and claim his second straight singles win of the year. 

The 7-2 scoreline was the closest for a King's-Wilkes match since 2012, matching the most games that the Monarchs have taken off the Colonels. The Monarchs will look to rebound with a home match Saturday, April 17 at 11 a.m. against visiting DeSales University in Kirby Park.