GAMBIER, Ohio - Freshmen John Gallagher and Jarek Sulak finished the season undefeated at no. 2 doubles by winning the only point for Franciscan men's tennis in their 5-1 loss to John Carroll in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The freshmen duo finished a perfect 13-0 when playing together and were the highlight of the team's play, as they have been through much of the Baron's season.

"John and Jarek are one of the best doubles teams I have had the opportunity to coach," head coach Jeremy Ellis said. "It's just great to see them win their NCAA match, just to show the NCAA that they are a real doubles team, and they did it."

The pair started out with a commanding 7-2 lead, looking to give Franciscan the early advantage in the match. The Blue Streaks battled back, however, to win the next four games, pulling within one of the Barons. After a long game that went back and forth at deuce, Sulak and Gallagher pulled out the 8-6 win.

Ellis said that he is impressed by the two and that they have an exciting collegiate career ahead of them.

"What they're going to be able to do in these next three years is going to be incredible," Ellis said.

Franciscan also had the chance to win a second doubles match on court three with freshmen Mitchell Plys and Connor Jooste. The two played well early, always staying within one game of their opponent, before the Blue Streaks pulled away for the 8-4 win.

The tournament style of play where the first team to five points wins suddenly became the Barons worst enemy as JCU won quickly on courts one, two and six to seal the match even though the Barons were leading at no. 3 and no. 5 with Sulak and Plys respectively.

"It's one of these times where you wish the match could play out," Ellis said. "We could have won courts three and five and maybe the score would have been closer."

Ellis said that having a team laden with freshmen appearing on the national level for the first time led to a lopsided score that wasn't a good representation of the Baron's talent.

"I think the nerves of the big stage makes it hard," Ellis said. "We have freshmen from no. 2 to no. 5, so four of our guys are freshmen, five if you include Connor for doubles so it's tough."

The young team, however, has a lot of promise for a successful future as long as the five freshmen return next season.

"It's always the difficulty of keeping them all together because Franciscan offers so much, going to Austria and other things," Ellis said. "It's letting them know that bigger things are available if you stick together so that's what we want to do."

With veterans Zachary Quiza and Joseph Staniszewski also returning for their senior year, the Barons will look to continue their streak of three AMCC championships and three NCAA tournament berths..

"It's great to be here for a third year in a row and we plan on staying," Ellis said.