GRANTHAM, PA  - The York College men's tennis team dropped a 5-4 non-conference decision at Messiah College on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Grantham.

The match was the season opener for the Falcons as they are now 1-0. The Spartans suffer their first loss of the season, as they are now 1-1.

The Green and White got off to a good start in the doubles. After the Falcons captured the first doubles match, the Spartan duo of Sam Innerst (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) and Devin Lehigh (York, Pa./Central York) earned a hard-fought 8-5 win over Dustin Innerst and Devin Esch. The Spartans also won the third doubles point as C.J. Weigle (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) and Aaron Marti (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) combined to record an 8-3 win over the Falcon counterparts.

The Falcons controlled the early singles flights to seize the momentum in the match. Tim Dunn downed Sam Innerst in the first singles match, 6-2, 6-2. Esch outdistanced Lehigh as he won the second single match 6-4, 6-2. Connor Greybeal downed Spartan senior Zach Hanson (New Freedom, Pa./Susquehannock) 7-5, 6-2 in the third singles match.

The Spartans bounced back to capture the fourth and sixth singles contest but it wouldn't be enough as the Falcons earned the one point win. Marti picked up a 6-3, 6-3 fourth singles win over Dustin Innerst while Weigle posted a 6-1, 6-2 sixth singles win. Messiah's Austin Warren secured the Falcon win with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Rory Handlin (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) in the fifth singles match.

The Spartans return to action on Sunday, September 27 when they host Penn State Abington in a non-conference match at the Spartan Tennis Centre. The match is slated for a 10:30 am start.

Photo courtesy of David Sinclair