N. MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Hanover men's tennis team won five of six singles matches Saturday afternoon, defeating Manchester in a battle for third place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings, 7-2.

The Panthers improve to 7-10 overall and 3-2 in HCAC play with the win. Manchester suffers its seventh loss of the season and falls to 2-3 during conference contests.

Hanover conceded two or fewer games in eight of the 12 singles sets Saturday. Sophomore Landon Carrico (New Albany, Ind.) and freshman Jed Fajt (Greencastle, Ind.) both won by an identical count of 6-0, 6-1, competing in the Nos. 1 and 6 spots, respectively. Senior Dakota Smith (Greenfield, Ind.) won his 10th singles match of the season, taking the No. 2 slot, 6-2, 6-0.

Cruising to a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the No. 3 match was junior Brent Barrett (New Palestine, Ind.). Sophomore Mitchell Minniear (Muncie, Ind.) was the additional Panther to earn a singles win, recording a 6-3, 7-5 decision at No. 5.

Doubles play saw HC open the contest by winning two of the three matches. Carrico and junior Alec Bates (New Albany, Ind.) earned an 8-1 triumph in the No. 3 spot. Barrett and Smith teamed up for just the second time this season, picking up an 8-6 win at No. 2.

With just two conference games remaining, Hanover is in prime position to make another appearance in the HCAC Tournament. The Panthers are currently in third place and are 1.5 games up on Defiance for the sixth and final spot in the conference postseason event.

The Blue and Red will take a brief hiatus from conference play when they travel to face Oakland City (Ind.) for a pair of matches, beginning at 1 p.m., Sunday, April 22.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@hanover.edu