SPRING ARBOR, Mich., and FORT WAYNE, Ind.  — For the second time in less than 48 hours, the Goshen College men's tennis team posted a 9-0 sweep over the Cougars on the road in Crossroads League play.

Thursday night in Michigan, Goshen defeated Spring Arbor, and Saturday morning in northeast Indiana, the Maple Leafs knocked off St. Francis. And in both cases, it was a sweep in more than just the team score, as Goshen won all 12 singles matches in straight sets.

"It was nice to get the win at Spring Arbor, though the 9-0 score does not accurately reflect how close and hard-fought some of the individual matches were," said Goshen head coach Stan King. The Maple Leafs' top two doubles pairs found themselves tied at 7-7 with tiebreaks looming at 8-8, but Balazs Pirot and Luis Perez claimed the next two games to win the match; so, too, did Jon Kaasa and Eric Zuercher.

In singles action, Goshen claimed three of the matches with relative ease: Zuercher, Vasanth Palanisamy and Kartikeya Sharma dropped a total of three games in their matches. The other three matches require more work, with Pirot, Perez and Kaasa all winning 7-5 sets.

"Kaasa played some very good tennis in the first set before his opponent came back," said King. "Pirot dug himself a hole, falling behind 4-1 and 5-3, before taking the next four games to win the set and carrying that momentum forward." Perez took a similar track in the first set before breaking serve at 3-2 in the second to win 7-5, 6-3.

The Saturday contest had fewer tense moments, with the Cougars coming within two games of Goshen only twice across the 15 sets.

"I'm proud of the way our guys played and stayed focused today, even though most matches were not particularly close," said King. Four of the singles matches saw Goshen lose four games or fewer: playing no. 6 singles and no. 3 doubles, Michael Oyer did not lose a game all day.

Pirot and Kaasa dropped only two games in a triumph at no. 1 doubles, and Kaasa reprised that act with a 6-1, 6-2 singles win. Pirot played the closest match of the day at no. 1 singles, dropping his first service game before breaking serve at love to tie the first set at 5-5. He broke again to win the set 7-5, then built up a 5-2 second-stanza lead and winning the match 7-5, 6-4.

Aritha Weerasinghe and Kartikeya Sharma rounded out the singles lineup for the Maple Leafs.

Goshen moves to 3-0 both overall and in conference play and will look to remain unbeaten with a win Sunday afternoon. Marian University will serve as the visiting team as the two sides finish a match that was suspended Tuesday afternoon. Each team has won two points, and four of the remaining five matches are in the second set.

Beyond deciding the team match, Sunday's play will narrow the number of unbeaten teams in the Crossroads League from three to two: besides Goshen and Marian, Grace has won each of its first four duals. First serve at the Goshen College Tennis Complex is set for 2 p.m.

Full Results: Goshen 9, Spring Arbor 0

Singles:
1. Balazs Pirot (G) def. Jesse Deboer 7-5, 6-2
2. Luis Perez (G) def. Nick Romano 7-5, 6-3
3. Jon Kaasa (G) def. Vincent McShane 6-1, 7-5
4. Eric Zuercher (G) def. Jacob Byrd 6-0, 6-0
5. Vasanth Palanisamy (G) def. Josh Scott 6-1, 6-0
6. Kartikeya Sharma (G) def. Sam Head 6-2, 6-0

Doubles:
1. Pirot/Perez (G) def. Deboer/Romano 9-7
2. Kaasa/Zuercher (G) def. McShane/Byrd 9-7
3. Palanisamy/Sharma (G) def. Scott/Thomas Hall 8-3

Full Results: Goshen 9, St. Francis 0

Singles:
1. Balazs Pirot (G) def. Nathan Barger 7-5, 6-4
2. Luis Perez (G) def. Payton Selking 6-0, 6-2
3. Jon Kaasa (G) def. Evan Hart 6-1, 6-2
4. Aritha Weerasinghe (G) def. Daniel Harrold 6-2, 6-0
5. Kartikeya Sharma (G) def. Alex Stavretis 6-4, 6-2
6. Michael Oyer (G) def. John Richter 6-0, 6-0

Doubles:
1. Pirot/Kaasa (G) def. Barger/Selking 8-2
2. Weerasinghe/Sharma (G) def. Harrold/Hart 8-5
3. Zuercher/Oyer (G) def. Richter/Stavretis 8-0