Men’s tennis evens Landmark record with 9-0 shutout of Catholic

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College men's tennis team opened its match against Catholic University with three doubles wins, and continued with a six-match sweep of singles, on its way to a 9-0 shutout of the Cardinals, Monday afternoon on the Raffensperger Tennis Courts.

Juniata improved to 9-5 overall, while evening its Landmark Conference record at 2-2. 

Seniors Casey Chew (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) and Ryan Navarro (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) provided the most excitement of the match, in their no. 3 doubles clash with Catholic's Joe Gribbin and Michael Pratt. Trailing 7-2 in the match, Chew and Navarro rallied to tie the Catholic tandem at 8-8, they completed the comeback with a 7-2 win in the tiebreak set.

Navarro also required a super tiebreaker in his no. 3 singles match against the Cardinals' Matt Netardus, before finally completing the win, 6-3, 4-6, 10-7. Chew posted a 6-4, 6-3 win over Pratt in their match at no. 6 singles. 

Juniata's other two seniors also posted singles wins: Jonathan Skoner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), with a 4-6, 6-0, 10-5 win at no. 1 singles over Catholic's Jean Paul Roman; and Aaron Rhodes (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area), with a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Gribbin at no. 5 singles.

"This Catholic match was key for us," said Juniata head coach Beth Bleil. "My initial assessment of the season was that we would be fighting Catholic for the fourth spot in the Landmark Conference tournament. So April 13 has always been a key date for me, in terms of finding out where we would fit in the conference... and the men performed today like this match was key."

Juniata returns to the courts on Wednesday, April 15, when it faces Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa. 

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