TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Both higher seeded teams in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Tennis Tournament were victorious Tuesday, as No. 3 Franciscan University and No. 4 Saint Vincent College advanced with home quarterfinal victories.

With the victories, Franciscan (10-6) moves on to play at No. 2 Grove City College Thursday, while No. 4 Saint Vincent will travel to No. 1 Allegheny College in the other semifinal. The match at Grove City will begin at 4 pm, while first serve Thursday at Allegheny will be at 5 pm.

Franciscan was a 4-0 winner over sixth-seeded Westminster College (5-8) in a match closer than the final score indicated. After the Barons took first doubles by a 6-1 score, Westminster evened the doubles side at 1-1 with a 6-0 victory at third doubles. That left the match at No. 2 to decide the doubles point, which went to Franciscan when graduate student Aidan Palladino (Danbury, Conn./Regina Caeli Academy) and junior David Bourdelais (Vienna, Va./Paul VI Catholic) pulled out a 6-4 win and the Barons took a 1-0 lead into singles play.

Although Franciscan would claim three singles wins to complete the victory, Westminster was competitive, as the Titans were ahead in two other flights and nearly even at a set apiece in the other. But before those matches could be completed, Franciscan clinched with a 6-0, 6-1 win at first singles from sophomore Aaron Heinlein (Erie, Pa./McDowell), a 6-1, 6-2 triumph at sixth singles by freshman David Drejza (Litchfield Park, Ariz./St. John Paul II) and Bourdelais closed the match by winning 6-3, 6-4 at fourth singles.

In the quarterfinal match in Latrobe, a 4-1 Bearcat victory began when Saint Vincent and W&J (8-11) also split the first two decisions, leaving the No. 2 teams to determine the doubles point. A 6-1 W&J win at third doubles was answered by a 6-4 victory at No. 1 by the Bearcats. At second doubles, the SVC tandem of senior Matthew Sadusky (Dover, Del./Dover) and senior Jack Citrone (York, Pa./West York) won by a 6-3 count and Saint Vincent was in front 1-0 when singles play started.

The Bearcats struck first in singles with a 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 1 by sophomore Braden Yokopenic (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin), but the Presidents had a response with a 6-3, 6-0 win at third singles by senior Abhinav Yarramaneni (Mountain View, Calif./Los Altos). Saint Vincent moved within a point of advancing after junior Kyle Murray (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) won 6-4, 6-3 at sixth singles. The final point for SVC came at fourth singles when sophomore Brady Johnson (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) overcame a first-set loss to pull out a three-set thriller, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and send Saint Vincent into the semifinals.

The higher seeded teams for Thursday's semifinals won the regular season match-ups. Back on March 26th, Grove City won a 5-2 decision over Franciscan, while Allegheny swept Saint Vincent 7-0 when the teams took the court on April 4th.

Thursday's winners will advance to the PAC Championship Match, scheduled for 1 pm at the highest remaining seed.

The winner of the PAC Championship Tournament earns the conference's automatic-qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Team selections for the Division III Championships will be announced on Monday, May 5 with first-, second- and third-round matches slated for Friday-Sunday, May 9-11.

Quarterfinals - Tuesday, April 22, 2025
No. 4 Saint Vincent 4, No. 5 W&J 1 - Box Score
No. 3 Franciscan 4, No. 6 Westminster 0 - Box Score

Semifinals - Thursday, April 24, 2025
No. 3 Franciscan (10-6) at No. 2 Grove City (10-4, 7-1 PAC) - 4 pm
No. 4 Saint Vincent (16-4) at No. 1 Allegheny (18-6, 8-0 PAC) - 5 pm

Championship - Saturday, April 26, 2025
at highest remaining seed - 1 pm