GRANGER, Ind. — The Goshen College men's tennis team dropped four or fewer games in half of its singles matches and Balazs Pirot won a match tiebreakr at no. 1 singles to keep the scoresheet unblemished as the Maple Leafs defeated Bethel 9-0 Tuesday afternoon in each team's conference opener.

Pirot and Jon Kaasa also earned the win at no. 1 doubles by an 8-6 margin, the closest of the three doubles matches. Aritha Weerasinghe won 20 of the 23 games he played during the match, winning 6-1, 6-1 at no. 4 singles and teaming with Kartikeya Sharma for an 8-1 victory at no. 3 doubles.

"It's nice to start the season with a win, especially with a conference win," said Goshen head coach Stan King. "Even though the scores of some matches were rather lopsided, I was very pleased to see the intensity with which we played. Winning all three doubles matches was a great start and winning every singles set but one was a great finish.

A pair of freshmen made their college debuts with two wins each: Sharma at no. 6 singles and no. 3 doubles, and Eric Zuercher at no. 2 doubles and no. 5 singles.

On the other end of the spectrum, one of the seniors had to come back from an early deficit at no. 1 singles.

"It was good to see Balazs Pirot come back from a set down, and a relatively poor performance for him, to win," said King. This match provided the team a chance to experience a competitive situation before next Saturday's home match with Indiana Wesleyan, last year's Crossroads League champion and arguably favored to repeat again this year."

The 1-0 Maple Leafs welcome IWU to the Goshen College Tennis Complex this weekend: first serve Saturday is set for 2 p.m.

Full Results: Goshen 9, Bethel 0

Singles:
1. Balazs Pirot (G) def. Jacob Macri 6-7(4), 6-2, 10-5
2. Luis Perez (G) def. Luke Prude 6-3, 6-0
3. Jon Kaasa (G) def. Nick Kindig 6-2, 6-2
4. Aritha Weerasinghe (G) def. Jose Morales 6-1, 6-1
5. Eric Zuercher (G) def. Mason Heller 6-0, 6-1
6. Kartikeya Sharma (G) def. Matt Kempf 6-2, 7-5

Doubles:
1. Pirot/Kaasa (G) def. Prude/Kindig 8-6
2. Perez/Zuercher (G) def. Marci/Kempf 8-4
3. Weerasinghe/Sharma (G) def. Morales/Heller 8-1