GROVE CITY, Pa. - A close three-set match was the deciding factor as the Franciscan men's tennis team lost 5-4 to Grove City College.                          

Everything came down to sophomore John Gallagher's match at no. 3 singles. Gallagher was dominant in the first set, winning 6-0, but his opponent made a comeback to force a third set.

"The match went into John's third set as a 4-4 split, waiting for his outcome to decide the match," head coach Jeremy Ellis said. "It was intense, it was great tennis, great to watch. It just fell in the wrong direction, but it was good."

The sophomore faced an early break in the third set to initially go down 1-0 but broke his opponent back for a 1-1 tie. The set went back and forth until Gallagher had to try and hold his serve to remain within one game of his opponent. With all eyes on the court, Zack Sprunger for Grove City won the final two games to win and decide the overall match.

"It's a lot of weight," Ellis said of Gallagher's match. "Some players appreciate that and some players don't. John's the type of player that it's just going to give him the confidence to play harder and he played hard. The other guy just got a little bit more of him."

Just like the women's team, the men's team was in an early hole after doubles play, having lost two of those three matches. All three Franciscan teams had 3-0 leads to start but courts one and two could not hold on to the lead. The no. 3 doubles pair of Joseph Quiza and Connor Jooste won handily 8-0.

"Going down 2-1 after doubles just puts more pressure on our singles players," Ellis said.

Quiza and his older brother Zachary Quiza both won their singles matches at no. 2 and no. 1, respectively. Zack won by a score of 6-4, 6-3 while Joe won 6-0, 7-5.

Senior captain David Freytag finished off the scoring for the Barons with a 6-2, 6-4 win at no. 4 singles.

Ellis was pleased with his team's performance even though the boys have not had as much practice as he would have preferred.

"I don't think we've had enough practice time that some of these other players and schools have had and we're missing two of our good players," Ellis said. "I think we're going to play Grove City again in the spring and we'll have sophomore Jarek Sulak back. We'll see where that takes us."

On another note, the Barons also accompanied the Lady Barons in the two teams' first dual match in a few years as the men's team continues to work through its fall season.

"That was nice having both the men and women," Ellis said. "It is always good to have everyone out there."

The men's team will travel with the women's team again for a match against Marietta on September 27.