ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine men's tennis team defeated Bethel (Ind.) 8-1 in a non-conference match Thursday evening in Keith E. Busse / Steel Dynamics Athletic Recreation Center.
The Thunder started things off with a sweep of doubles play. Spenser Gilbert (Elkhart, Ind. / Elkhart Memorial) and Colin Couch (Batavia, Ohio / Glen Este) got Trine started off right with the first win of the day at no. 3 doubles. The duo took down their opponents by an 8-2 final in their first match as a pairing.
A pair of tight doubles victories in the no. 1 and no. 2 courts followed. Victor Flynn (Grosse Pointe, Mich. / Grosse Pointe South) and Judson Quinn (Russiaville, Ind. / Western) earned the 9-7 victory to pick up their team-leading seventh doubles victory of the season. Blake Trusty (Fremont, Ind. / Fremont) and Jacob Weiss (Richmond, Ind. / Richmond) won their match by the same score to improve to 4-1 as the no. 2 pairing.
The team carried over its success into singles play as Flynn, Quinn and Trusty each added wins. Quinn and Flynn each allowed their opponents just a single point in their matches, while Trusty earned his victory 6-2, 6-0.
Garrett Baysinger (Brazil, Ind. / Rockville) earned the clean sweep in straight sets at no. 4 singles to earn his second consecutive victory. Tyler Davis (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Snider) won his first set 6-2 and was able to fend off a tough challenge from his opponent to win the second set 7-6 to close out his victory.
Gilbert nearly made the match a sweep in favor of the Thunder, but his comeback bid was denied by his opponent in the tiebreaker.
The win was Trine's second over Bethel this season and evened the team's record at 5-5. The Thunder won three more matches than in its first victory over the Pilots, which came during the fall season. Bethel, an NAIA member, fell to 3-11 on the season.
The Thunder will host Heidelberg in a non-conference match Saturday, Mar. 25 at 2 p.m. The match is part of an event featuring free popcorn and sunglasses giveaways throughout the day. Please visit THIS PAGE for more information on Saturday's match.
