Penn State Brandywine's tennis team placed third overall, with several players making it to the finals, in the Penn State University Athletic Conference Championship at University Park on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25.
On Oct. 24, sophomore information sciences and technology major Kevin Kelleher, of Newtown Square, led off the campus' men's singles with an easy win in his first match. In the semifinals, he lost to a number two-ranked player.
Freshman finance major Max Berry, of Springfield, had a bye the first round, but pulled out a win in a tough second-round against and made it to the finals Oct. 25.
Junior information sciences and technology major Marc Frayne, of Springfield, made it through his first match with a win but lost in the second round. Junior communications major Joseph Hillen, of West Chester, also had a bye the first round and then won decisively in his second round. Representing the campus' women's singles, Cydney Goldman and Melissa Creely both had tough matches and lost in the first round, but not without a fight.
They also played doubles and had a tough match but played well. The men's teams, consisting of Berry and Kelleher and Hillen and freshman Brian Belack, of West Chester, both won their first matches and went on to play in the semifinals Oct. 25.
The final day of the championships started with the doubles. Berry and Kelleher played the second seed and ended with a loss. The second doubles team, Hillen and Belack, played the first seed and lost.
Next came two men's singles players who advanced to the finals, Berry and Hillen. Berry, at second singles, played the match of his life against the first seed. Both sets went to tie breakers and Berry lost. Hillen won his first set, losing the second and losing in the tiebreaker.
The men's fifth singles bracket was the largest and three men represented the campus. Freshman Tom Sharp, of Clifton Heights, won his match and sophomore Michael Nguyen, of Philadelphia, also won his first round easily, but lost to teammate Sean Hickey, a sophomore from Thornton, in the second round. Hickey made it through his third match with an impressive win and advanced to the finals. He ended his season with a tough loss in the finals.
With three Penn State Brandywine players in the finals, three matches going into the semifinals and an all-around great showing by the team, the team came in third place in the tournament. Penn College came in first and York, which won the conference title this season, came in second.
For more information on Penn State Brandywine, go to http://www.bw.psu.edu/ online.