CHESTERTOWN, MD -- The Washington College men's tennis team clinched a berth in the five-team Centennial Conference Tournament with an 8-1 win over visiting Gettysburg College this afternoon at Schottland Tennis Center. The Shoremen, who are currently ranked 11th in the Atlantic South region, improved to 8-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play with the win, while the Bullets fell to 6-7 and 2-5 with the loss.
The Shoremen won two of the three doubles matches as seniors Aaron Ellison (Largo, FL/St. Petersburg) and Kyle Lisco (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) were 8-4 winners against Mike McLaughlin and Johnny Nelson at No. 2 and freshman Dan Boaté (West Chester, PA/Reed Henderson) and graduate student Andrew Laux (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) defeated Sebastian Rodriguez and Mike Pratt, 8-5, at No. 3. The Bullets' lone point on the day came courtesy of an 8-4 win at No. 1 by Terry Keegan and Chris Curran over sophomore Marc Cywinski (Brisbane, Australia/Pendleton [FL]) and freshman Vishnu Rajes (Yercaud, India/St. John's).
The Shoremen captured all six singles matches in straight sets. Ellison, who played No. 1 singles for the first time in his collegiate career, bested Curran, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 1, Rajes downed McLaughlin, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 2, and Boaté beat Rodriguez, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 3. Cywinski added a 6-1, 6-2, win over John Cronin at No. 4, Lisco beat Pratt, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 5, and sophomore Joel Novick (Cape May Court House, NJ/Middle Township) topped Nelson, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 6.
The Shoremen return to action tomorrow with a 2:00 p.m. match at The College of New Jersey.
