Royal Men's & Women's Tennis Teams Begin Quest For Landmark Titles This Week

The men's tennis team will host Catholic University in a Landmark Conference semifinal match Wednesday, April 25, at 3:00 p.m. at the Royal Courts. In case of inclement weather, the match will take place at the same time at the Birchwood Fitness & Tennis Club in nearby Clarks Summit.

Joe Morra	Tim McGurrin
Caitlin Ehly	Elisha Connell

The University of Scranton men’s and women’s tennis teams will begin their journey towards conference championships this week.

The Royal men (7-4 overall/6-1 conference) are the number two seed in the Landmark Conference tournament and will host Catholic University (13-3 overall/5-2 conference) this Wednesday, April 25, beginning at 3:00 p.m., weather permitting, at the Royal Courts.  In case of inclement weather, the match will take place at the Birchwood Fitness & Tennis Club in nearby Clarks Summit at 3:00 p.m.  Admission is free.

The Scranton-Catholic winner advances to the finals on Saturday, April 28, to meet the winner of #4 Moravian College (8-4/4-3 conference)/#1 Drew (9-5/7-0 conference) at the site of the highest seed remaining.  

The Royal women (7-5 overall/4-2 conference) are the number three seed and will travel to Madison, New Jersey, on Tuesday, April 24, to take on Drew University (8-4 overall/4-2 conference) at 11:00 a.m.  The Scranton/Drew winner meets the winner of #4 Moravian/#1 Susquehanna on Saturday, again at the site of the highest seed.

The eventual winners will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Division III team championships.

Behind two wins apiece from juniors Tim McGurrin (Clarks Summit, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) and Mike Pannone (Maplewood, NJ/Seton Hall Preparatory), the Royals downed Catholic, 6-3, on Thursday, April 5, at home.

Scranton will be making its fifth straight Landmark Conference tournament appearance and has advanced to the title match in each of the past two seasons, losing both times to four-time champion Drew University, losing 5-3 in 2010 and 5-4 in 2011.

The Royal women have also qualified for the Landmark tournament all five years of the league’s existence.  Last spring, Scranton dropped a hard-fought 5-4 decision to Moravian College in the title match.

The probable starting lineups for Tuesday and Wednesday’s semifinal matches are as follows:

Tuesday, April 24:  Scranton Women (7-5/4-2 Landmark) vs. Drew (8-4/4-2 Landmark)
#1 Doubles:    Stephanie Boccuzzi/Devon Cohen (5-6) vs. Sarit Ashkenazi/Sofia Madrigal (4-2)
#2 Doubles:    Elisha Connell/Caitlin Ehly (5-5) vs. Chelsea Lipp/Deanna Williams (5-1)
#3 Doubles:    Megan Azzalina/Nicole Mahaffey (6-3) vs. Cristine Conde/Erica Fredrickson (2-1)

#1 Singles:    Stephanie Boccuzzi (4-8) vs. Chelsea Lipp (5-4)
#2 Singles:    Devon Cohen (5-6) vs. Sarit Ashkenazi (9-3)
#3 Singles:    Elisha Connell (9-3) vs. Zoe Childs (4-3)
#4 Singles:    Caitlin Ehly (5-6) vs. Sofia Madrigal (6-4)
#5 Singles:    Nicole Mahaffey (6-5) vs. Deanna Williams (8-4)
#6 Singles:    Megan Azzalina (9-2) vs. Cristine Conde (6-2)

Wednesday, April 25:  Scranton Men (7-4/6-1 Landmark) vs. Catholic (13-3/5-2 Landmark)
#1 Doubles:    Joe Morra/Mike Pannone (11-6) vs. Jean Paul Roman/Cassian Utrie (11-4)
#2 Doubles:    Bennett Kelley/Tim McGurrin (9-2) vs. Kyle Kramer/Joe Peters (5-6)
#3 Doubles:    Jonathan Russo/Brian Williams (1-4) vs. Brian Bradley/Jason Quisberth (8-4)

#1 Singles:    Tim McGurrin (9-3) vs. Cassian Utrie (9-7)
#2 Singles:    Joe Morra (12-5) vs. Jean Paul Roman (13-2)
#3 Singles:    Mike Pannone (10-7) vs. Brian Bradley (12-3)
#4 Singles:    Jonathan Russo (9-4) vs. Jason Quisberth (11-4)
#5 Singles:    Harry Bonet (9-0) vs. Joe Peters (11-5)
#6 Singles:    Brian Williams (5-4) vs. Kyle Kramer (14-1)

--ROYALS--