Marlins Dominate in 9-0 Victory

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Tuesday afternoon saw the Virginia Wesleyan men's tennis team cruise to a 9-0 victory over the visiting Penn State-Abington.

Fueled by warm Virginia Beach March weather and a strong contingent of fan support, the Marlins raced out to a big lead thanks to a dominant showing across the three doubles flights.

Following comfortable wins of 8-1 and 8-0 by the second and third doubles teams, respectively, the duo of senior Brendan Kelleher and freshman Nick Gunther combined for an 8-2 victory to give Virginia Wesleyan a 3-0 lead heading into the singles portion of the competition.  The match was punctuated by an emphatic ace by Gunther on match point, putting a firm stamp on a strong showing in the early part of the dual.

"We came out really energized in doubles today," said assistant coach Christian Nagy, "It was awesome to see the guys feeding off of one another."

Junior Jake Morgan made sure the Marlins carried their momentum into the singles portion of the match, making quick work of his opponent en route to a 6-1, 6-0 victory at the number six singles flight. 

Kelleher followed soon after in clinching his match and the team result for Virginia Wesleyan, claiming his number two singles bout in 6-0, 6-1 fashion.  

"Terrific effort by our older guys, Brendan and Jake, today. They showed composure that comes with being in big matches before. They're great examples for our younger guys to follow," remarked head coach Marty Perry. 

The younger Marlins did just that, following suit in claiming their own wins.  Paul Gladstone, Andreas Combos, Nick Gunther, and Joe Holloway all claimed their first career singles and doubles victories on home soil today.

Virginia Wesleyan (1-2/0-1) returns to the courts at the Everett Tennis Center on Sunday when the Marlins play host to ODAC foe Shenandoah University (1-2/0-1).  First serve is slated for 2 p.m.