GOSHEN, Ind. – The Maple Leaf men's tennis team continued their three game home stand to open up the 2014 campaign this week by dropping their first match 7-2 to Cornerstone University, while rebounding quickly to knock off Bethel College 7-2 in the first match of league play.

Cornerstone got off to a hot start by sweeping doubles play in the first match (8-6, 8-3, and 8-1) despite a very strong performance by Aritha Weerasinghe  and Jon Kaasa at # 1 doubles. The newly assigned pair nearly went the distance on serve until it was finally broken in the 11^th game, putting them down 5-6, before finally falling 6-8 in the match.

"With our top player, Balazs Pirot, out of the lineup due to an injury sustained in the last match against Cardinal Stritch, we had to make some adjustments," explained head coach Stan King. "The guys played hard, showed good effort, and played some great tennis in this loss to a strong Cornerstone team."

Some of the most competitive matches of the day came during singles play where the two wins came from gutsy efforts by Vasant Palanisamy (6-2, 3-6, 7-5) at # 3, and Aritha Weerasinghe at # 4 (3-6, 6-0, 6-0).

Trailing 4-5 in the third set, Palanisamy dug in and fought off four match points to tie the score at 5-5 before eventually winning the next two games and the match by a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 score. "Vasant played some of his best tennis at Goshen today," praised King.

In the second singles win of the day at # 4, Weerasinghe lost the opening set 3-6, and after making some adjustments and focusing on aggressive play, took the next two sets 6-0 each to win the match 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.

Coach King also commented on the strong performances of Luis Perez (#1 singles), Jon Kaasa (#2 singles), and Taylor Ermoian (#5 singles) saying that they "won some excellent points and had strong rallies."

"Though this afternoon's match was a loss for the team," said King, "I believe all of our guys are better players because of the determination and effort they put into their matches."

In the second day of back to back games, the Maple Leafs turned the tables on the visiting Bethel Pilots by dominating their first Crossroads League match of the year in convincing fashion (7-2). "It's always nice to get a win; especially a win in the Crossroads League," noted Coach King. "I was pleased overall with our play and the way that our guys stayed focused even when carrying large leads."

Goshen dominated at # 1 and # 2 doubles, 8-3 and 8-2 respectfully, but the match of the afternoon came at # 3 doubles in an intense, comeback win by Taylor Ermoian and Joel Gerig. The tadom managed to come back from 1-4 and 2-5 deficits to take the match into a tie-breaker, where they were able to withstand another 0-3 deficit, fight off match point at 5-6, and eventually rally to win the tie-break 9-7 in front of an enthusiastic crowd of fans and teammates.

In singles play, Goshen continued their momentum by winning 4 of the 6 matches. Led by 3 dominating performances by Perez (#1), Palanisamy (#3), and Weerasinghe (#4), the Maple Leafs also won a hard fought match at #2 by Kaasa, who battled back after dropping 5 straight games to win 7-5, 7-5 in straight sets. King also praised the effort and exciting rallies by Ermoian (#5) and the strong first set and deep groundstrokes by Siddath Ratnatunga (#6,) who eventually dropped their singles matches.

With the split, the Maple Leafs are now 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the Crossroads League. After three home matches, the men will now hit the road to take on Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday, Aug. 30^th at 11:00 am.

Complete Results: Cornerstone 7, Goshen 2

Doubles:

1. Yi/Hunt (CU) def Kaasa/Weerasinghe 8-6
2. Ottosen/Hendrick (CU) def Perez/Palanisamy 8-3
3. Mackrey/Son (CU) def Ermoian/Gerig 8-1

Singles:

1. Elijah Yi (CU) def Luis Perez 6-1, 4-6, 10-4
2. Sam Ottosen (CU) def Jon Kaasa 7-6(5), 3-6, 12-10
3. Vasanth Palanisamy (GC) def Austin Hunt 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
4. Aritha Werasinghe (GC) def Santiago Mackrey 3-6, 6-0, 6-0
5. Austin Hendrick (CU) def  Taylor Ermoian 6-2, 6-2
6. Andrew Son (CU) def Siddath Ratnatunga 6-0, 6-2

Complete Results: Goshen 7, Bethel 2

Doubles:

1. Kaasa/Weerasinghe (G) def Stout/Kindig 8-3
2. Perez/Palanisamy (G) def Turner/Prude 8-2
3. Ermoian/Joel Gerig (G) def Kempf/Brad Foster 9-8(9-7)

Singles:

1. Luis Perez (G) def Ethan Turner 6-0, 6-0
2. Jon Kaasa (G) def Trent Stout 7-5, 7-5
3. Vasanth Palanisamy (G) def Nick Kindig 6-2, 6-2
4. Aritha Weerasinghe (G) def Luke Prude 6-1, 6-0
5. Matt Kempf (B) def Taylor Ermoian 6-2, 7-6(7-3)
6. Mason Heller (B) def Siddath Ratnatunga 7-5, 6-0