Gwynedd Mercy 7, Immaculata 2BOX SCOREIMMACULATA, PA. -- In men's tennis action, it came down to the winner capturing the final playoff spot for the CSAC Men's Tournament and it was Gwynedd Mercy posting a 7-2 win over Immaculata to claim a postseason berth.
The short-handed Griffins came through when they needed to, notching wins at #1 and #2 doubles and squeaking a tough victory at #3 with
Nick Czibik (Brookhaven, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) and
Mike Bruce (Blue Mountain, Pa./Blue Mountain).
In singles,
Peter Brzezinski (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) continued to be a clear-cut candidate for the Player of the Year, as he went undefeated in singles play, without dropping a single set the whole year. In doubles, he and his partner,
Alexander Channick (Glenmoore, Pa./Collegium Charter) only lost one match.
The highlight of the day came from rookie
Mike Bruce. After losing the first set, he battled back in after taking a lump in the first set, but under the tutelage of Magee and Holt, bounced back to win a very close, second-set tie-break victory. During the critical coaching time-out, Coach Holt and Magee came clean..."Bruce, don't let me down", thus inspiring Bruce to electrically orchestrate a phenomenal come-from-behind victory, which gave the Griffins the final spot in the play-offs, in which case they will go against first-place finisher and heavy favorite, Neumann University on Friday morning in Easton, Pa. at the Northwood Tennis Club.
Coach Holt stated "With the unexpected loss of two key starters, I am pleased with the way this team has responded. At the start of the season, the playoffs seemed nearly impossible to reach, but to the team's credit, they came up big when they needed to. Facing top seed Neumann will be an incredibly tough mission, but then again, we're in the playoffs so we'll see what happens. Just having the opportunity is an accomplishment in itself."
The Griffins lost to Neumann in the regular season, 7-2. They will meet on Friday, March 25th in a semifinal matchup.
