Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State men's and women's tennis opened their home schedule on Wednesday afternoon, with both teams picking up wins over Ohio Christian.
The men's tennis program got their first home victory in program history with a score of 8-1. Shawnee State would win all three doubles matches. Matthew Bryant (JR/Asheville, Ohio) and Zach Colley (FR/Portsmouth, Ohio) defeated James Wells and Dylan Wilkerson 8-3 to record the first home victory for Shawnee State. Nick Johnson would defeat Ryan Jones 6-0, 6-2 for the first men's tennis singles home victory on the afternoon as Shawnee State would dominate the Trailblazers.
Women's tennis would also pick up a win with a narrow 6-3 decision over OCU. The women would go 1-2 in doubles, with Adrianna Johnson and Shelby Hay picking up the lone win, 8-2 over Emily Miller and Javon Graham. Singles would go much better as Shawnee State would win five of six matches. Katy Singer had the best singles match for Shawnee State, blanking opponent Erinn Bailey 6-0, 6-0. Shawnee State's Megan Meyers and OCU's Emily Miller would play a marathon match, lasting two hours 45 minutes before Meyers was declared the winner, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).
With the wins, both Shawnee State tennis teams improve to 2-0 on the season. Ohio Christian's men fall to 0-2, and the OCU women fall to 0-5. The 2-0 start is the first time since 2015 that the SSU women's tennis team has won back-to-back games.
Prior to Wednesday's match, Shawnee State hosted an opening ceremony to honor Dr. William Daehler's contributions to SSU's tennis programs. Dr. Daehler was instrumental in funding the start of the men's tennis program. Speeches were made by Shawnee State President Dr. Rick Kurtz, athletics director Jeff Hamilton, and head tennis coach Steve Boone. Dr. Daehler then hit the first serve to inaugurate the season.
Shawnee State play their first ever Mid-South Conference match on Thursday afternoon when they host Pikeville at Daehler Tennis Center.
Shawnee State University Tennis
Match Summary
Shawnee State vs Ohio Christian University
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
First Ever Men's Home Match
Men's Doubles—8 Game Pro Set Format Winner Score
1st Doubles
Nick Johnson/Rodney Spriggs (SO/Lucasville, Ohio), SSU vs
Jones/Dorman, OCU Johnson/Spriggs 8-6
2nd Doubles
Matthew Bryant/Zach Colley, SSU vs
Wells/Wilkerson, OCU Bryant/Colley 8-3 First Ever Men's Home Team Victory
3rd Doubles
C J Burk/Ben Bercheck, SSU vs
Jacinto/Subiur, OCU Burk/Bercheck 8-4
Men's Singles
1st Singles
Nick Johnson, SSU vs Jones, OCU Johnson 6-0, 6-2
2nd Singles
Matthew Bryant, SSU vs Dorman, OCU Dorman 6-3, 6-4
3rd Singles
Rodney Spriggs, SSU vs Wells, OCU Spriggs 6-0, 6-0
4th Singles
C J Burk, SSU vs Wilkerson, OCU Burk 3-6, 6-3, 20-18 Tie Breaker
5th Singles
Tyler Sherwood (JR/Minford, Ohio), SSU vs Jacinto, OCU Sherwood 6-1, 6-3
6th Singles
Ben Bercheck, SSU vs Subiur, OCU Bercheck 6-3, 6-0
Exhibition
Drew Howard (FR/West Portsmouth, Ohio)/Chase Ward (FR/Waverly, Ohio), SSU vs
Caldwell/Pate, OCU Howard/Ward 8-1 Pro Set Format
Women's Doubles—8 Game Pro Set Format
1st Doubles Winner Score
Kendi Congrove/Megan Meyers, SSU vs
Johnston/Lawless, OCU Johnston/Lawless 8-4
2nd Doubles
Shelby Hay/Adrianna Johnson, SSU vs
Miller/Graham, OCU Hay/Johnson 8-2
3rd Doubles
Katy Singer/Mykalley Detty, SSU vs
Bailey/Dickson, OCU Bailey/Dickson 9-7
Women's Singles
1st Singles
Kendi Congrove, SSU vs Johnston, OCU Johnston 6-0, 6-0
2nd Singles
Shelby Hay, SSU vs Lawless, OCU Hay 3-6, 6-1, 10-8 Tie Breaker
3rd Singles
Megan Meyers, SSU/Miller, OCU Meyers 6-3, 7-6(7-1) Match lasted 2hrs 45 mins
4th Singles
Katy Singer, SSU vs Bailey Singer 6-0, 6-0
5th Singles
Caleigh O'Neal, SSU vs Graham, OCU O'Neal 6-3, 5-3(Suspended due to darkness)
6th Singles
Adrianna Johnson, SSU vs Graham, OCU Johnson 6-0, 6-1
Exhibition
Halee Gilliland, SSU vs Hearn, OCU Gilliland 6-3
Final Results
Shawnee State Men: 8-1
Shawnee State Women: 6-3
