Yellow Jackets open HCAC play with big win over Franklin

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance College Yellow Jackets picked up a statement victory Friday evening and opened up HCAC play with a 6-3 victory over Franklin College.

For just the third time since the men's tennis program was re-introduced at Defiance, the Yellow Jackets were victorious in a match with Franklin. The previous two victories came when head coach Tyler Ault was a junior and senior with DC in 2009 and 2010.

The Yellow Jackets started off the evening with a pair of victories in doubles to take a 2-1 advantage into the singles competition. Mike Ross and Ryan Nelson picked up an 8-5 win over Ryan Hammer and Ethan Caldwell in the top doubles pair match.

Cord Speelman and Justin Walker also picked up a doubles victory, 8-4 over Luke Snyder and Jared Hunt. For Speelman and Walker, it was the start of two wins on the night. Speelman defeated Caldwell in singles play, 6-1 and 6-3. Walker defeated Evan Pierle with a pair of 6-2 set wins.

Nelson also had two wins on the night, defeating Snyder 6-2, 6-0 in singles play, helping DC to secure four of the six singles matches.

James Demeo had the other win on the night for Defiance. Demeo bounced back after an 8-6 loss with teammate Tory Savage in doubles and picked up a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Robby Woehrle.

Defiance will now set its sights on a trip to South Carolina for a five days of competition over the next week. The Yellow Jackets will start the week off with a match against Emory and Henry on Sunday.