Men's tennis NAC Champs 2017
3
Penn State Abington PSAM (7-6)
6
Winner Penn State Berks PSBM (10-5)
Penn State Abington PSAM
(7-6)
3
Final
6
Penn State Berks PSBM
(10-5)
Winner

Match Recap: Men's Tennis |

Men's tennis claims NAC West Division crown after topping Abington, 6-3

CLARKS SUMMIT, PA - The Penn State Berks men's tennis team won the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) West Division Championship after edging Penn State Abington, 6-3, at the Birchwood Tennis Club on Thursday afternoon. Berks will now travel to New York next weekend to face the NAC East Division Champion on Sunday.

Berks and Abington did not face each other during the regular season due to a rain out and finished as the NAC West Division Regular Season Co-Champions. Abington had won the title over Berks in each of the past two seasons, but Berks was finally able to take the title game for the third time in program history and the first time in 10 years. Berks had previous won in the 2004-05 and 2007-08 seasons when it was the NEAC title. Since the 2009-10 season, the NEAC has been an associate member of the NAC and have faced the East Division winner with the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

Berks got off to a strong start by taking two of the three doubles bouts to lead 2-1 heading into singles play. The duo of Will Byler and Ryan Fritz continued their strong play in the top doubles spot with an 8-3 victory over Michael Litz and Sean Kimball. The No. 3 team of Diego Olazagasti and Nick Volk also kept up their domination at third doubles, topping J.T. Kling and Alex Dunetz by a score of 8-1. Mostafa Rahmy and Grant Batzer put up a battle at second doubles, but were edged 9-8 by Tarik Dashields and Prerak Patel.

Olazagasti (No. 3) got Berks going in singles actions, winning 6-2, 6-1 to give the team its third point in the race to five points. Volk earned the next point for Berks by taking down his opponent 7-5, 6-0 in the No. 5 singles spot.

The clinching point came from Byler at No. 1 singles in thrilling fashion. Byler took the first set, 6-4, but fell 6-0 in the second set. In the decisive third set, Byler trailed Litz by a score of 5-4. Byler was able to break Litz's serve to even it at 5-all and held his serve to take a 6-5 lead. Byler finished off the match by again breaking his opponents serve.

After the match was already in Berks' favor, Rahmy finished off the winners for Berks with 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback victory in three sets over Kling at fourth singles.

Berks improves to 10-5 on the season, marking the first time the team reached double digit victories since an 11-4 record in the 2008-09 season.

The NAC Championship contest will be played on Saturday, May 7 at the Tri-City Tennis and Fitness Club in Latham, N.Y.
 
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