SALISBURY, Md. Spending the entire weekend in Maryland, the Methodist men's tennis team went to battle with some stiff competition on Saturday and Sunday in the form of Goucher College and Salisbury University. The Monarchs fell 5–2 versus the Gophers before going down via sweep against a ranked Seagulls squad.
JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Goucher def. Methodist 5–2, Salisbury def. Methodist 7–0
Records: Methodist 1–2, Goucher 2–3, Salisbury 3–0
Location: Salisbury University Indoor/Outdoor Tennis Center; Salisbury, Maryland
SATURDAY VS. GOUCHER
- While Decklan Rayner and Drew Guarnieri won their doubles match by a score of 6–2, the Monarchs fell short in their other two doubles matches, taking a 1–0 deficit in the match.
- Collecting a win in the singles round, Matthew Hurley won big in the top contest as he defeated his opponent with sets of 6–1 and 6–3. Following his lead on court No. 5, Guarnieri picked up a win in two sets with a pair of 6–4 victories.
- Rayner played a tight match on the fourth singles court. After winning the first set 6–4, he dropped the second set 7–6 (7–2) and fell swiftly in the third set.
SUNDAY VS. #32 SALISBURY
- Although Methodist did not claim a victory in the doubles round, all three matches were close, with each Monarch duo claiming at least three games in their set.
- The Monarchs went winless in singles play as well. However, on court No. 4, Guarnieri earned a win in the second set of his match to force a third–set tiebreaker, which he narrowly lost 10–7.
Head Coach
Scott Handback had this to say about the team's performance against Salisbury:
"Tough match today against a nationally ranked team. Our effort and fight were much better than yesterday. Hopefully we can take the lessons learned this weekend and use them to improve as we head towards the main part of the season."
UP NEXT
The Monarchs compete at home for the first time this spring on Thursday, March 6 when they host The Citadel at 11 a.m. on the courts of the Gene Clayton Tennis Center.
