Elsah, ILL. -- Principia Men's Tennis met Franklin College this afternoon at Hexberg Tennis Center. Franklin's netters indeed came to compete today, and challenged the Panthers in several matches, including the top shelf. The dual started with Principia coming out on top of all three doubles matches. The strategy in each dual is to pocket 2 of the 3 doubles points in order to rely less heavily on the remaining singles matches to secure a win. To best any team, 5 out of 9 total must be won to clinch a match.

In singles, the Panthers continued adding to the momentum of the doubles matches, adding points per match, one by one, until the dual was concluded by a clean sweep. It is always nice to come away with a decisive win in that way. In several of the match ups, there were no guarantees that these would be easy wins for the Panthers; Franklin came to play, and they pushed the Panthers to earn every point. Six singles player Dan Wagstaff in fact, lost the first set in his best of three sets match. Wagstaff was forced to regroup and play a style of tennis most uncomfortable—put the ball back in play and outlast his opponent. Dan's normal tactic to hit hard and hit deep and defeat the opponent with power failed to work, so he had to regroup. And regroup he did, coming away with yet another come from behind win at 6 singles: 6-7 (3), 6-3, 10-3 ST. The other come from behind win came from the 3rd doubles team of Brody Swan and Peter Griswold, who were down 4-5 in the pro set and then surged to an 8-5 victory. The Panthers move to 6-2 overall going into the outdoor season.

Inside the Box Scores: Principia Panthers vs. Franklin College

Doubles: (Winning scores in bold)

1st Team: Wyatt Dale / Greg Sovie vs. Alex Hammer/Blake Amonett, 8-3

2nd Team: Jules Kitchingman/Nathanael Kenworthy vs. Zach Lester/Kyle Sauley, 8-1

3rd Team: Brody Swan/Peter Griswold vs. Jacob Zachary/Sam Godby, 8-5

Singles: (winning matches in bold)

1. Wyatt Dale vs. Alex Hammer, 7-5, 6-2

2. Jules Kitchingman vs. Blake Amonett, 6-1, 6-2

3. Greg Sovie vs. Kyle Sauley, 6-0, 6-1

4. Nathanael Kenworthy vs. Sam Godby, 6-2, 6-1

5. Brody Swan vs. Jacob Zachary, 6-4, 6-4

6. Dan Wagstaff vs. Dean Elrod, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 10-3 ST

7. Peter Griswold vs. Zach Lester (singles exhibition)

News and Notes:
The Panthers now midway through their season are finding a new gear just at the right time. As the team moves forward with several formidable opponents on the horizon, the netters will need a new gear to compete against some of the talent they are about to face in the outdoor season.

Up Next:
Principia travels to Indian Wells and South Orange County, CA next week for Spring Break.  If you are in So California area while the team is there please come out and support them!