ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– As they did in the regular season, Eastern University Men's Tennis and the Alvernia University Golden Wolves had their first attempt at a match rained out. Today, the two teams met under vastly more tennis-like conditions than they did last week. The final result, however, did not change. The fifth-seeded Golden Wolves (2-7) held off a late Eastern charge to earn a 5-4 win and advance to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals.

Post-season tennis matches are played until one team clinches the match. So, it is not uncommon to see a 5-1 or 5-2 score. Today, the match was played in its entirety.

The Eagles (1-6) dropped the first two doubles matches, but Darren Lopez and Jacob Devage rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to win 8-6 at third doubles.

That momentum did not last as the visiting Golden Wolves won by decisive scores at first and third singles and had the edge with 6-3 first-set win at No. 2 singles. If Nick Wool could not rally in that match, Alvernia would close out the match before the fifth and sixth singles matches had a chance to play much tennis at all.

Wool found his rhythm and started to move his opponent around the court in the second set. Shortly after Wool won the second set by a 6-3 score, Devage closed out his match with a 6-3, 6-1 win.

With the mid-day heat building, Wool continued to control the middle of the court and used lobs and and drop shots to extend points and make his opponent work. He closed out his match with a 6-4 win in the third set just as Lopez and Jacob Kratz won their opening sets.

Kratz had to battle through a 7-5 tiebreaker to win at the five spot, but though they trailed 4-3, the Eagles had the edge in the final two matches.

Lopez closed out a 6-4, 6-4 win as Kratz dropped the second set in his match. Over five hours after the match started, Alvernia's Christopher Lazdin's closed out the third set to help the Golden Wolves advance to play top-seeded Stevenson tomorrow.