Top-Seeded Men's Tennis Blanks Susquehanna in Landmark Semifinals, 5-0

TOWSON, Md. - For the fourth consecutive season, the Goucher College men's tennis team is headed back to the Landmark Conference Championship match, as the top-seeded Gophers made quick work of fourth-seeded Susquehanna on Wednesday, 5-0, in the Semifinals of the 2018 Landmark Conference Championship. 

With the win, Goucher (who is now 22-4 overall and has won 10 of their last 11 matches overall), heads to the Landmark title match on Saturday against second-seeded Scranton, who won their semifinal contest over third-seed Juniata on Wednesday, 5-2. 

The day kicked off for Goucher in doubles, where all three tandems in the line-up rolled to easy victories to quickly put the Gophers up, 3-0.

First, at number three, the team of sophomore Slade Dumas (Great Falls, Va.) and junior Elliot Diehl (York, Pa.) coasted to an 8-1 win, which was followed up by a victory at number one by senior Jack Hodges (London, England) and first-year Tetsuya Ota (Winter Park, Fla.) by the same 8-1 score.

The doubles sweep was completed at number two by sophomores Michael Herman (Prague, Czech Republic) and Frankie Mullinix (Washington, D.C.), who also posted an 8-1 win to put the Gophers up, 3-0, entering singles.

There, Ota made quick work of his opponent at number one, coasting to a 6-0, 6-0 shutout win to put Goucher up, 4-0. Shortly after Ota won, Mullinix finished off Susquehanna with a straight set victory of his own at number four (6-1, 6-0) to give Goucher their fourth straight victory in the Landmark Conference Semifinals.

The Gophers now set their sights on a match-up with Scranton in the Championship match on Saturday. Earlier this season (April 7), the host Royals gave Goucher all they could handle, as the Gophers had to rally from an early 3-0 deficit to take a thrilling 5-4 victory indoors to remain unbeaten in the Landmark.

More information on the match will be posted over the next 48 hours on athletics.goucher.edu, as well as the Gophers' Twitter account @GoucherSports.

Goucher College 5, Susquehanna University 0
May 02, 2018 at Towson, Md. (Goucher Tennis Courts)

Singles competition
1. Tetsuya Ota (GOUMTEN) def. Ben Ornstein (SUSM) 6-0, 6-0
2. Jack Hodges (GOUMTEN) vs. Alexander Dove (SUSM) 6-2, 2-1, unfinished
3. Michael Herman (GOUMTEN) vs. Alexander Cocolas (SUSM) 6-1, 5-1, unfinished
4. Frankie Mullinix (GOUMTEN) def. Ryan Seibert (SUSM) 6-1, 6-0
5. Slade Dumas (GOUMTEN) vs. Nicholas Meale (SUSM) 6-2, 4-0, unfinished
6. Elliot Diehl (GOUMTEN) vs. Ashton Collins (SUSM) 6-2, 3-2, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. Tetsuya Ota/Jack Hodges (GOUMTEN) def. Ben Ornstein/Ryan Seibert (SUSM) 8-1
2. Frankie Mullinix/Michael Herman (GOUMTEN) def. Alexander Cocolas/Alexander Dove (SUSM) 8-1
3. Slade Dumas/Elliot Diehl (GOUMTEN) def. Nicholas Meale/Ashton Collins (SUSM) 8-1

Match Notes
Susquehanna University 10-6
Goucher College 22-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4)
2018 Landmark Conference Championship - Semifinals
No. 1 Goucher Plays No. 2 Scranton in Finals on Saturday

--GOPHERS--