BLOOMSBURG, Pa.  – The men's tennis team had a strong showing at the Bloomsburg Invitational, combining for a 27-12 record over the weekend. Sophomore Jerome Falcon led the way with a perfect 5-0 mark in singles action.
 
"It was a weekend filled with 50 matches and highs and lows for the men's ballclub," head coach Bobby Pennington said. "The gameball goes to the loyal, steady, and mature Jerome Falcon going undefeated in singles and doubles. I thought we had good results against Bloomsburg, Kutztown, and Lafayette but competed very poorly against St. Francis. We have a quick recovery for our home invite this weekend and need to clean up how we play in clutch situations, keeping our cool and emotions positive, and figuring out the proper lineup."

 
To start off the weekend, the Raiders played a hidden dual match with Bloomsburg, where they won 14 of 16 matches and battled late into Friday night. Highlights of the match included Josh Israel and Benito Vlassis who continued their success from last season, winning 6-3 at line one doubles. In singles, Vlassis won at line three with a score of 6-2, along with first-year Tim Viding who collected his first career singles victory with a score of 6-3.
 
To continue the invite on Saturday and Sunday, the Raiders saw some new faces, including St. Francis, Kutztown, and Patriot league foe Lafayette. The men went 13-10 record in these matches, highlighted by Falcon's five-straight victories. 

"I'm happy to start the fall on a positive note," Falcon said. "It was great being out on the court with my teammates after a long summer. We definitely had some high notes, but there is a lot more we need to work on to prepare for our first home invite in program history."
 
Notable results from the rest of the weekend included Lee and Viding beating Lafayette 6-0, 6-4, and 6-1, 6-4, respectively, while first-years Lochlan Seth and Wesley Nichols teamed up for the first time to take out a Lafayette doubles team. 

Senior captains Mikey Weitz and Ben Graham teamed up to defeat St. Francis 6-4, while Josh Israel won 6-2, 6-4 against Kutztown.

UP NEXT 
The men return to action this weekend, September 14 and 15, for their inaugural home invitational, held at the J.W. Abrahamson Tennis Courts, where they will match up against Siena, Niagara, and Hamilton.