Bobcat Tennis Continues Success

The men’s tennis team had a lot to live up to following a successful women’s tennis season, in which the Lady Bobcats finished 7-7 and were one point away from a win in the AMCC Finals.

Thus, far, the men have been up to the challenge.

The Bobcats started off the season with two home games at the Greensburg Racquet Club against Waynesburg University on February 28 and Saint Vincent University on March 18.

Jakob Shafer and Luke Zeleznik picked up the only Pitt-Greensburg doubles victory against Waynesburg, but the other two pairs–Jeremy Niemiec and Anthony Backowski, Tyler Fox and Izaak Fulmer-Moffat–gave it their best shot.

In the singles matches, Fox and Zeleznik picked up victories, but the Bobcats fell to the Yellow Jackets, 6-3.

In their next match, against the Saint Vincent Bearcats, the Bobcats did not gain a point in the doubles matches.

Fox and Backowski picked up the only points of the night in singles, and the Bobcats fell by a score of 7-2.

The team had better luck in Buffalo, NY, as they took on fellow Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference members the D’Youville Spartans.

The first pair, Niemiec and Backowski, nabbed an 8-6 win for the Bobcats, immediately followed by an 8-4 win from Fox and Fulmer-Moffat and an 8-2 triumph for Schafer and Zeleznik.

In the singles portion of the match, the Bobcats took five of six games. Their only loss came from the AMCC Player of the Week, at the time, Wei Yen Huang.

The Bobcats’ first win put them at 1-2 on the season and gave them momentum heading into their matchup against Penn State Behrend.

The lone victory for the Bobcats came from the Fox and Fulmer-Moffat pairing as the Bobcats momentum seemingly slipped away.

Fulmar-Moffat had a big day. He also picked up the lone Bobcat point in the single matches. His efforts earned him a Player of the Week honor from Pitt-Greensburg.

“It is an honor to be awarded,” Fulmer-Moffat said. “But there are many deserving teammates that should have gotten the award before I did.”

Against their rival, Pitt-Bradford, the Bobcats took eight of nine matches.

The team would have the same record the following day against Bethany, which seemingly turned their season around for the better.

With only a few matches left before the AMCC tournament, the Bobcats hope to hang on to their momentum.

PJ Dumnich is a sports writer for The Insider.