Feb. 22, 2009

EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's tennis team opened the spring season on a high note and improved to 2-0 on the year by defeating Rider, 6-1, on Saturday.

Matt McGranaghan stumbled out of the gate for Lafayette in the first singles match, losing to Casey Jeolinski 6-0, 6-2. But the Leopards regained composure and knocked out the next five matches without a hitch.

The Leopards swept the doubles competition as McGranaghan and Justin Haar led the way with an 8-4 win over Jeolinski and Chris Esposito. Doug Gallagher and Kyle MacLelland teamed up to hand Mark Ashed and Will Haight an 8-5 loss, while James Murphy and Andrew Morris rounded out the day with an 8-1 victory over Rob Olsen and Aaron Goldenthal.

The Leopards will return to action on Saturday to host Fairfeld at 3 p.m.

Singles Results
Casey Jeolinski def. Matt McGranaghan 6-0, 6-2
Doug Gallagher def. Mark Ashed, 6-1, 6-1
Justin Haar def. Chris Esposito, 6-0, 6-3
Steven Benezra def. Rob Olsen, 6-1, 6-0
James Murphy def. Aaron Goldenthal, 6-1, 6-2
Kyle MacLelland def. Mike Kulpinski, 6-1, 6-1

Doubles Results
1. McGranaghan/Haar def. Jeolinski/Esposito, 8-4
2. Gallagher/MacLelland def. Ashed/Haight, 8-5
3. Murphy/Morris def. Olsen/Goldenthal, 8-1