STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—In its home opener the Franciscan University men's tennis team had to battle an unexpected opponent of intense winds. Despite the excessive wind, which caused stray balls to roll the entire length of six courts in a matter of seconds, the team managed to shutout Bethany College with a 9-0 victory.

"It went ok considering the conditions," head coach Jeremy Ellis said. "It's just really windy and that makes it hard for any kind of consistency."

The team powered through the wind and stayed consistent in doubles play as all three teams won in skilled fashion. The teams set the tone for the rest of the day as No. 1 doubles team, Paul Jarzynka and Zachary Quiza, and No. 2 doubles, David Freytag and Luke Merry, won in 8-3 victories and No. 3 doubles, Joseph Staniszewski and Robert Butcher, glided to a 8-0 win.

"We swept doubles and that is what I want to continue to do the rest of the year," Ellis said. "I think for all three of the doubles, the more they play together the more chemistry they're going to have."

After doubles the singles play kicked into gear with all the players cranking out wins. Sophomore Butcher was the first to the draw getting on and off the court quickly ousting his opponent at No. 5 singles 6-0, 6-0.

"Rob Butcher played really well," Ellis said. "He came out on a mission and beat his guy. I think he just wanted to stay focus and finish. He probably didn't want to play in the wind for long."

Last on the courts were senior Merry and sophomore Quiza as they battled out the final points. Merry finished his match first pulling out a 6-4, 6-2 win with well placed shots and play at the net.

"I thought our team did a good job of adjusting our play and doing the things we had to do to get the win," Merry said. "The key was staying focused and to keep playing well despite the conditions."

With a clean sweep at stake Quiza and his opponent battled out a super tiebreaker with Quiza coming out on top 4-6, 6-1 (10-6).

"Pulling out both Zach's and Luke's matches is big," Ellis said. "I'm glad to see that they did that. In the wind like this you have to have good footwork and stay mentally tough and they were able to do that."

Moving forward the team has three more home matches this week starting on Friday, April 4 against non-conference opponent Wooster University at 4 p.m. then two conference matches the next day.

"Its a big weekend this weekend," Merry said. "We're expecting a pretty good battle from Wooster and then big conference matches on Saturday. I think we're the best team in the conference, we just have to prove it."