STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan University men's tennis team registered an 8-1 victory over Grove City in their last home match of the spring season, on Tuesday afternoon. Four-year lettermen Jarek Sulak, John Gallagher, and Connor Jooste all turned in strong Senior Day performances, in their final home matches in Baron uniforms.

Matches were close on all three doubles courts as play began, just after 3 p.m. At the No. 3 doubles spot, freshman Luke Conrad paired with sophomore Jack Galla, where the pair shook off two match points, one on a Galla second serve, to claim a 9-7 victory. Galla looked consistent as he's been all year, bolstered by Conrad's net presence.

Gallagher and Sulak concluded their regular-season career the same way they began it: on-court together in doubles. The pair found familiar chemistry after they leveled the score 2-2 in the match's early goings. A break and subsequent service hold put the pair up 7-4, and after Gallagher's serve was broken, Sulak's clutch service returns were key in a break that claimed the 8-5 match for the Barons at No. 1 doubles.

Sophomore Jake Haffner joined Jooste at No. 2 doubles. Haffner cleaned up at the net, and after a slow start, the duo found a rhythm and pulled away for the 8-4 win. Jooste's consistent first serves were a consistent bright spot for the duo on the day.

After a 3-0 doubles sweep, the Barons took the courts for singles play. Haffner used the whole court en route to his 6-3, 6-1 victory at the No. 1 singles spot. After the match remained close through six games early, the sophomore opened things up with a series of drop shots, forcing short returns. Haffner had smart tennis to thank for a concise second set.

Sulak kept consistently ahead of the competition at No. 2 singles, keeping shots deep and isolating his opponent's backhand. After rolling to a 6-3 first set win, his Grove City counterpart found footing, forcing Sulak to hit angles and to finish points at the net. The senior earned a 6-3 second set and overall match win for his efforts.

On the third court, Gallagher outlasted his opponent at No. 3 singles, in the process tying the program's all-time singles win mark. The senior's final home match went his way, in the form of a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

After singles specialist Walter Matt couldn't quite find a rhythm in his 6-1, 6-1 loss at No. 6 singles, Jooste earned his first Grove City singles win, as he took down his No. 4 singles counterpart, 7-6, 6-3. After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, Jooste pulled away in the second, finishing well inside the court on groundstrokes, and concluding points at the net.

Conrad played perhaps the toughest match of the afternoon at No. 5 singles. Lengthy rallies characterized his match, the final competition on the courts, and after he lost the first set in a tiebreaker, Conrad dug deep to take the second set 7-5. The match would head to a deciding, 10-point tiebreaker, where the freshman stayed just ahead of his opponent, riding a clutch three-point streak to eventually earn himself the win 10-6 tiebreaker win.

After the 8-1 victory, Head Coach Scott Greve spoke briefly about the seniors' positive impact on the season. Thinker of thoughtful thoughts Stephen Bolster also remarked post-match that "Winning is pretty cool."

The Barons' NCAA tournament bid will see them take to the courts at least one more time; the date, time and location of their opening match is TBD.