GROVE CITY, Pa. - After falling to Grove City College during their non-traditional fall season, the Franciscan men's tennis team overcame the Wolverines 7-2 on Wednesday, in their second-to-last match before the NCAA Tournament.

The Barons got off to a fast start in doubles after abbreviated introductions and customary five-minute warmups. Juniors Jarek Sulak and John Gallagher won their third consecutive match at No. 1 doubles, behind Sulak's dominant net presence. Sulak carried the duo to victory, returning several pivotal serves on a day when no-ad matchplay placed additional pressure on all deuce points. Up 7-3, the pair surrendered two more games before closing the match out on Gallagher's serve.

Senior David Freytag and freshman Jack Galla teamed up again at No. 3 doubles, and gave Franciscan a 8-0 dominant win at the spot. The pair simply outlasted their opposition, and found that quality serves and service returns were enough for the win. Galla and Freytag also finished an impressive percentage of points at the net in the victory.

At. No. 2 doubles, junior Connor Jooste and sophomore RJ Watson got out to a fast 3-0 start, due largely to Jooste's impeccable service returns. The junior also served well on the day, and Watson cleaned up loose points at the net to give the duo a lead they wouldn't relinquish. At 7-5, it was Watson's turn to deliver, and he took the final game behind several blistering first serves.

Up 3-0 after the conclusion of doubles, the Barons took the courts for singles and soon added to their lead. Sulak owned his No. 1 singles match, consistently putting one more ball into play than his opponent could handle, in a display of smart tennis typified by deep groundstrokes. He dropped two games in his second set after a 6-0 first, but soon came off the court with a 6-2 result in the decisive set.

Improving on his result from their last matchup, Watson anchored the No. 4 singles spot on the far court. The sophomore drove short balls deep into his opponent's court, and finished well at the net. He cut down on service errors with service games characterized by heavy topspin and consistent placement; smart tennis gave Watson the 6-3, 6-3 victory. The Baron has now clinched the fifth and decisive point against Grove City in their last two spring matchups.

At. No. 2 singles, Gallagher often struggled against his opponent's heavy spin serves, but played well when it mattered most. At 3-3 in the first, the junior took the last three games, two at deuce, for the 6-3 first set win. He quickly erased a 1-0 deficit in the second, evening the match behind his own service game, before breaking his opponent's serve to give him just enough of a margin for victory. His Wolverine counterpart would record only one more game, at deuce, before Gallagher left the court with a match win behind a 6-2 second set.

Freshman singles specialist Walter Matt took the court at No. 6 singles, on a day when his forehand was firing on all cylinders. He kept his opponent moving from corner to corner early and often, losing the first set by only a single break of serve, 6-3. The freshman talent got off to a quick start in the second, leading the first several games of the set before his opponent broke back behind a consistent service game of his own. At the end of the day, it was Matt's backhand inconsistency which stood behind him and victory, as he lost a close second set 6-4; he nevertheless walked off the court after a hard-fought effort that will do well to prepare him for the NCAA atmosphere.

Jooste played with just enough groundstroke inconsistency to give his opponent hope at No. 5 singles. After losing a 6-1 first set, and going down 5-1 in the second, the junior came alive, grinding out points behind a solid defensive effort that saw him volley several points away at the net. He took his match to a tiebreaker, one in which he led 5-2. His opponent got the better of him down the stretch, and Jooste fell in the tiebreaker 8-6, to put a 7-6 second set in the books.

Freytag's No. 3 singles match was perhaps the most exciting of the afternoon. Determined to even their matchup record after falling to the same opponent during the fall, Freytag's match was off to a promising start. He powered his way into the lead late in the first set after ripping a number of unreturnable groundstrokes. Freytag couldn't register the break of serve that would've given him the first set, and lost the set in a tight tiebreaker.

The team captain made sure the second set went his way. Up 5-4 in the second, he screamed an ace up the middle of the court to even the match at a set all. Freytag kept the momentum going into the tiebreaker that would decide the competition. Behind consistent groundstroke momentum, the enthused senior took the match 10-5 in a thriller of a tiebreaker.

The win has the Barons feeling confident on the cusp of NCAA competition. Their next matchup is a tough one, as they travel to Cleveland to take on Case Western Reserve University, the No.11 Division III team in the nation, on April 29. Doubles will begin at 12:30 p.m.