Men's tennis goes to HCAC semifinals, loses to Rose-Hulman

The Franklin College men’s tennis team’s season ended on Sunday in a 5-2 loss to Rose-Hulman in the semifinals of HCAC championship.

No. 1 singles and doubles player Matt Hamm said the second-seeded Grizzlies thought they should have defeated the third seed.

“It was a good, close match, but we felt like we could have won,” Hamm said.

Both of Franklin’s wins came in the double matches. Hamm and fellow freshman Justin Moran won their match at the No. 1 position, 8-3, while senior Matt Winget and junior Jace Redman won at No. 3, 8-5.

Franklin defeated Manchester 5-0 in the opening round.

Rose-Hulman lost in the championship to top-seeded Transylvania 5-0 Sunday afternoon.

Even though Hamm said the team was disappointed in itstournament results, he felt the team had successful season. He cited the team’s second place finish in the conference’s regular season.

Though he played in the No. 1 spot in both singles and doubles as a freshman, Hamm said the higher level of competition in college, especially among his teammates, helped him improve his skills.

“I’m a really competitive person so just having that competition level helped a lot,” Hamm said.

Hamm, Redman and senior Brad Lowe all made the HCAC All-Conference Team.