HUNTINGDON, PA- The Juniata men's tennis team hosted Merchant Marine Academy in the semifinals of the Landmark Conference Tournament on Tuesday afternoon. The Eagles only needed to win five matches to knock off the Mariners and advance to the championships for the second year in a row.
JC took all three of the doubles match to lead 3-0. Dean Polisena (Adelaide, Australia/Saint Ignatius) and Matyas Kohout (Krhanice, Czech Republic/Gymnasium Jizni Mesto) won at first flight 8-5 over the pair of Jake McDonough and James Hicks. Sho Sato (Shiga, Japan/Kansai Gaidai University) and Logan Moore (Chadds Ford, PA/Unionville) teamed up to defeat Jeremy Guettlein and Moana Kawatachi 8-2. At third doubles, Bryan Gregory (Glen Mills, PA/Garnet Valley) and Mike Lifshitz (Worcester, MA/Worcester Academy) knocked off Josh Levitas and Alec De Ryckere 8-4.
In the singles portion of the match, Gregory won his 12th in a row as he was victorious over Guettlein, 6-1, 6-2 at fourth flight. Kohout was ahead 5-3 at second singles but an injury to Hicks forced him to retire and Kohout was awarded the victory.
Juniata will play Goucher for the championship on Saturday at Raffensberger Court. The Gophers defeated Moravian 5-1 in today's other semifinal. The Eagles and Gophers met 10 days ago in Huntingdon and the Eagles clinched the #1 seed with a 7-2 win.
