The Elizabethtown College men’s tennis team continued its strong start to the fall season Saturday afternoon, defeating Penn State Abington 6-1 at home.

The Blue Jays took control early, winning two of the three doubles matches to claim the first point of the afternoon. Senior Ryan Kraychik and First-year Connor Gurekovich provided Etown’s biggest doubles win, defeating Sanat Juneja and Aaron Zheng 7-5 at No. 2 doubles.

While the Blue Jays dropped the No. 1 doubles match 6-4, the team was able to secure the doubles point thanks to a default victory at No. 3. Senior Zachary Hinkel and first-year Brian Hall were awarded the match after Penn State Abington was unable to field a team due to their limited roster. 

With an early advantage established, Etown carried its momentum into singles play and maintained it throughout the matchup.

Senior Stefanos Billis got the Blue Jays off to a strong start at No. 1 singles, cruising past Daniel Trott 6-2 and 6-2. Kraychik followed up with an even more dominant performance at No. 2, shutting out Juneja 6-0 in the opening set before finishing the match 6-1.

Hinkel also delivered one of the afternoon’s most decisive performances. Playing at No. 5 singles, he did not surrender a single set, sweeping Matthew Lovensetein 6-0, 6-0.

The closest singles match came at No. 3, where Hall battled Kaan Ofluoglu. Hall quickly took the first set 6-1, but Ofluoglu took the second. The two players battled through a tight set that eventually required a tiebreaker. Hall ultimately prevailed 7-6, winning the tiebreak 7-4 to give Etown another point.

Penn State Abington’s lone point of the afternoon came at No. 4 singles. Gurekovich fought through the opening set against Zheng but fell 6-4 before dropping the second set 6-2.

Etown also received a default victory at No. 6 singles, with Nicholas Powl earning the point after Penn State Abington was unable to provide an opponent again due to their small roster. 

The 6-1 victory gave the Blue Jays another strong result early in the season and demonstrated the depth of the team’s lineup throughout the afternoon. Etown was able to pick up points throughout both doubles and singles play, with Kraychik, Billis, Hall and Hinkel each contributing individual victories and dominating the court. 

The Blue Jays did not have much time to celebrate the win, however. Etown returned to the court Sunday morning for a conference matchup at Catholic University.

After opening the season with a victory over Scranton and following it with Saturday’s convincing win over Penn State Abington, the Blue Jays entered the Catholic match looking to carry their momentum further into conference play.