Taylor Falls Short in Close Contest at Saint Francis

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Tyler Lane and Graham Beukelman turned in clutch performances for a pair of wins at the top of the singles lineup, but the Taylor University men's tennis team came up just short in a 5-2 decision on the road against Saint Francis on Saturday.

At No. 1 singles, Lane cruised to a 6-1 victory in the opening set before battling it out for the second. The freshman eventually pulled out the second set and clinched the match with a 7-3 result in the tiebreaker. Lane remains unbeaten in singles play through the fall campaign.

At No. 2 singles, Beukelman also edged out his opponent in a narrow victory by taking the super tiebreaker set with a 10-5 final. Beukelman claimed the opening set 6-3 but was forced to bounce back in the deciding set after dropping the second stanza, 6-2. He improved to 3-1 overall in singles matches this fall.

TU (2-2) suffered a narrow defeat at both No. 4 and No. 5 singles, which proved to be the difference in the contest, after the host Cougars swept the three doubles matchups.

The Trojans return to action at the ITA Regional Championships, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan on Wednesday, Sept. 24 – Saturday, Sept. 27.

Singles

1. Tyler Lane (TU) def. Jorge Cebria (USF) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Graham Beukelman (TU) def. Juan Anders Wilches (USF) 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5)
3. Devon McCaffrey (USF) def. Joseph Harper (TU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Grant Mishler (USF) def. Garrett Spencer (TU) 7-5, 6-4
5. George Ebert (USF) def. Josh Dawson (TU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Enzo Bozonnet (USF) def. Andrew Roth (TU) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles

1. Juan Anders Wilches/Jorge Cebria (USF) def. Tyler Lane/Graham Beukelman (TU) 7-5
2. Grant Mishler/Devon McCaffrey (USF) def. Joseph Harper/Garrett Spencer (TU) 6-2
3. Andres Pena/George Ebert (USF) def. Andrew Roth/Josh Clegg (TU) 6-2