Goucher Men's Tennis Wraps Up Perfect Landmark Conference Regular Season And Home Court Advantage With Juniata Victory
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Goucher College men's tennis hunt for its fourth-straight Landmark Conference title has to go through Exit 27A on 695 and the Goucher College Tennis Courts after the Gophers defeated Juniata College 8-1 in the final conference match on Saturday.
With the win, Goucher will have the right to host both the Landmark Conference semifinals on Tuesday, April 30 and with a victory in that match the conference championship match on May 4. The squad will host the No. 4 seed in the semifinals.
Tetsuya Ota (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Saddlebrook Prep) and Michael Herman (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Nova Porg) won at No. 1 doubles and Frankie Mullinix (Washington, D.C./The George School) and Elliot Diehl (York, Pa./York Suburban) took care of No. 2 doubles, 8-1. Omosesan Adebamgbe (Philadelphia, Pa./Lower Merion) and Slade Dumas (Great Falls, Va./Dominion) helped complete the doubles sweep with an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles.
The Adebamgbe-Dumas tandem went 7-0 in conference doubles matches at No. 3 doubles and only allowed 10 games in the seven matches. Mullinix-Diehl went 6-0 in league doubles matches while Ota and Herman won all five doubles conference matches they were paired together.
Ota won at No. 1 singles 6-0, 6-1 to improve to 7-0 in league play and only allowed nine games in 14 sets. Herman dispatched his opponent at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-2 to give the Gophers a 4-0 team lead.
Dumas officially clinched home-court advantage through the postseason with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles. Then junior won all seven games in the circuit while only allowing an impressive four games in his 14 sets.
Mullinix and his opponent did not get into John Isner and Nicolas Mahut territory, but for a collegiate match it went pretty long. Mullinix ended up on the Mahut end of the match, falling 1-6, 6-3, 17-15.
Brian Kane (Philadelphia, Pa./Friends Select) completed a 7-0 run in first trip in conference play after taking care of No. 5 singles, 6-4, 6-0. The freshman only allowed 15 games in 14 sets in the league in 2019.
Diehl played his final career conference match and it may have taken longer than he wanted before coming away with 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 win. The senior went 5-0 in singles in his senior campaign and 17-4 In Landmark Conference action.
Goucher will travel to Harford Community College on April 27 for a final tuneup for the Landmark Conference Tournament. Match time is 12 p.m.
Doubles
1. (GC) Tetsuya Ota/Michael Herman defeats (JC) Ilia Buralkin/Owen Graffe, 8-4
2. (GC) Frankie Mullinix/Elliot Diehl defeats (JC) Ray Liberman/Dan Ansel, 8-1
3. (GC) Omosesan Adebamgbe/Slade Dumas defeats (JC) Jason Gerber/Set Stewster, 8-3
Singles
1. (GC) Tetsuya Ota defeats (JC) Ilia Buralkin, 6-0, 6-1
2. (GC) Michael Herman defeats (JC) Ray Liberman, 6-2, 6-2
3. (JC) Owen Grafe defeats (GC) Frankie Mullinix, 1-6, 6-3, 17-15
4. (GC) Slade Dumas defeats (JC) Dan Ansel, 6-1, 6-0
5. (GC) Brian Kane defeats (JC) Jason Gerber, 6-4, 6-0
6. (GC) Elliot Diehl defeats (JC) Matt Munoz, 6-4, 2-6, 10-8