The Lancaster Bible College men's tennis team will look to defend its North Eastern Athletic Conference title on Saturday, as the Chargers face Penn St. Harrisburg in the NEAC Final. Due to scheduling issues and weather, the match will be hosted by Penn St. Harrisburg on Saturday at 4 p.m., despite the Chargers being the top seed.
 
The winner of Saturday's match, like the women's NEAC Final, will face the winner of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) next weekend at a location, time, and date to be determined. The winner of the NEAC-NAC match will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
 
No. 1 Lancaster Bible vs. No. 3 Penn St. Harrisburg
Saturday, May 1, 2021 – 4 p.m.
 
Team Records
Penn St. Harrisburg: 3-3, 1-2 NAEC
Lancaster Bible: 9-1, 4-0 NEAC
 
How They Got Here
Penn St. Harrisburg: The Nittany Lions upset No. 2 Penn St. Berks in the NEAC Semifinals on Tuesday in Reading, Pa., as Penn St. Harrisburg won, 7-2…The Nittany Lions had lost to Penn St. Berks, 6-3 just a week prior, but turned the tables, and earned a trip to the NEAC Final.
 
Lancaster Bible: Lancaster Bible defeated upstart No. 5 seed Penn St. Abington in Tuesday's NEAC Semifinals, as the Chargers down the Nittany Lions, 6-3 at Hempfield Rec Center…Lancaster Bible won two of the three doubles matches to grab an early lead, and then won singles matches at No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 to secure the win.
 
Regular Season Match
Apr. 17: Lancaster Bible blanked Penn St. Harrisburg, 9-0 during the regular season, though some of the matches were close, tough battles…After sweeping the doubles, Lancaster Bible got a key victory at No. 1 singles from Devon Clemmer, as he knocked off Nick Rohn in three sets, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1…Tyler Norris took the first set of his match in a tie-breaker at No. 2 singles, and then won the second set, 6-2…The rest of the singles matches went to the Chargers fairly easily.
 
Statistically Speaking
Penn St. Harrisburg: Since losing to Penn St. Berks, 6-3 on Apr. 20, the Nittany Lions have posted wins of 9-0 and 7-2 as they head into the NEAC Final.
 
Lancaster Bible: Lancaster Bible is 23-6 in doubles play this season and 41-15 in singles action…AJ Kwiatkowski is 10-0 at No. 6 singles, while the No. 3 doubles team of Keven Vallette and Micah Weaver are 7-0, and the top team of Devon Clemmer and Tyler Norris are 6-1…Vallette is also 9-1 in singles play, as the Chargers have had the best statistical season in program history.
 
 
Team Notes
Penn St. Harrisburg: The Nittany Lions are 1-2 at home this season…After missing matches in the middle of the season, including the match against Lancaster Bible, Penn St. Harrisburg's No. 1 player, Sachin Venkatesh has returned, and thus pushed most players down a spot…Because of Venkatesh's return, several of the Chargers may be playing new opponents in Saturday's NEAC Final.
 
Lancaster Bible: The Chargers are 4-0 in road matches this season…Lancaster Bible defeated Penn St. Abington, 5-4 in the 2019 NEAC Final…Lancaster Bible's seven straight wins are a program-record, and a win on Saturday would be a program-record 10^th of the year for the Chargers…Kwiatkowski is just two singles victories away from tying the program-record for most wins in a single season, which is held by Jeremy Davis who collected 12 wins during the 2012-13 season...Lancaster Bible had six players earn NEAC All-Conference honors on Thursday, and also had the NEAC Coach of the Year in Rod Baughman.
 
How to Follow
The match can be seen LIVE thanks to Penn St. Harrisburg Athletic Communications.