COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus men's tennis team came back in dramatic fashion on Saturday, defeating Dickinson in a 5-4 thriller. The Bears lost narrowly in doubles and were down 4-3 heading into the final two matches. Needing both remaining courts, freshmen Rob Ritchie and Darby Rogers each won at No. 5 and No. 6 singles to clinch the match.

The Bears started the day coming up on the wrong side of two close matches in doubles. Rogers and Ritchie won 8-6 at third doubles, but it was losses at one and two that sent the Ursinus men into singles trailing, 2-1. At the top spot, Mason Groff and Matt Fontanese fell 8-6 to lose their first match of the season and the duo of Lars Jespersen and Will Oberholtzer came up just short in a deciding tiebreaker to go down 8-7 (6).

To give the Bears a chance, they would need to take at least two of the first four matches in singles play. Jespersen came out sharp at number three, winning convincingly, 6-3, 6-0. With a straight set loss at four singles and both Groff and Fontanese trailing at the top two spots, things looked bleak for the Bears.

Then, just like that, a switch flipped. Fontanese split the opening two sets of his match, but after losing the second set 6-3, he trailed 4-0 in the third with Groff also losing at the number one spot. A hold of serve was all Fontanese needed to get back in rhythm and get the match back in his favor. The senior ended up rattling off six straight games to win the deciding set, 6-4. While Groff fell 6-4, 7-5 at number one singles, the Bears headed into the final two matches, trailing just 4-3.

Unlike the matches at one and two, Rogers and Ritchie got through their matches with little drama. Ritchie lost just two games on his way to a 6-1, 6-1 victory to tie the match and 4-4. Looking to clinch the match, Rogers took the opening set at five singles, 6-4. The freshman then won four of the first five games of the second set to take a 4-1 lead. A quick service hold made it 5-1. Needing a break of serve to get over the finish line, Rogers ripped a forehand winner down the line to clinch the 5-4 win for the Bears.

In addition to its critical importance, Fontanese's come-from-behind singles win was also a milestone moment. It marked the 60th career overall victory for the senior, who pulled even with Groff and joined his classmate and doubles partner as one of 12 players in program history to hit that benchmark. 

What's Next

The Bears will look to build off of this win next week when they travel to Muhlenberg and continue Centennial Conference action.

Coach's Corner

"Coming into the match today there was no doubt in my mind that this would be a really close match. It could have gone either way. There were some spots in the lineup where it set up well for Dickinson, and there were other spots in the lineup where it set up well for us. It was going to come down to which team could pull out a key win at the right spot.

All five courts we won were obviously critical. To get a double win day from two freshmen, Rob Ritchie and Darby Rogers, was huge. Lars Jespersen, another freshman, was lights out at third singles. But I really want to point out the win that Matt Fontanese pulled off at second singles. He won the first set, lost the second set, and was down 0-4 in the third set. I will tell you it looked like that match was all but over - no one watching could have seen what was to transpire over the next 30 minutes. Matt ripped off 6 straight games, including rallying from 0-40 at 5-4, to win the match and really propel the team to the win. I have been doing this for 14 years and I can't really remember a comeback that was so electric and so clutch. I felt privileged to witness it.

Now Tuesday vs Muhlenberg looms very large. It should be a great match. We will be ready."