(Posted March 7, 2006)

Hilton Head, S.C. - On the strength of three comeback singles victories the Juniata College men's tennis team improved its record to 2-0 on the young season with a 6-1 victory over Wilkes University Tuesday afternoon in Hilton Head, S.C. Wilkes dropped to 1-1 with the loss.

Juniata won five of six singles matches, and took two of the three doubles outings to claim the doubles point. Three of Juniata's singles wins came after the Eagles players dropped the first set, only to come back and earn the win.

The tightest match was at fifth singles where freshman Ryan Navarro (Bishop Guilfoyle/Altoona) rallied from a one-set deficit and then claimed the match with a tie-breaker victory in the third set. He prevailed by scores of 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (10-4). Neil Eicher (Altoona/Altoona) also earned a comeback win at first singles as he posted a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3 win for Juniata. The other comeback came at second singles where John Skoner (Central Catholic/Pittsburgh) posted a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.

Brandon Long (Lebanon/Lebanon) and Jonathan Cohen (Highland Regional/Hollywood, Fla.) were both straight-set winners in singles competition. Long earned a 7-6 (7-0), 6-3 win at the fourth singles position, while Cohen posted a 6-4, 6-3 triumph at sixth singles.

After his tight singles match, Skoner was involved in the closest doubles outing as he and Jack Walfish (Spring-Ford/Royersford) outlasted the Wilkes duo by a 9-7 score at third doubles. Eicher and Long teamed to claim an 8-3 victory at first doubles for the Eagles.

Juniata will close its play in Hilton Head on Thursday with a match against Eastern Nazarene.

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