Taylor Claims First CL Win at Mount Vernon Nazarene

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – Taylor men's tennis made its first Crossroads League road trip count Tuesday, sweeping Mount Vernon Nazarene 7-0 for the program's first league victory since returning to competition this season. It was a complete performance from top to bottom for TU, which won all three doubles flights and all six singles matches in straight sets.

Taylor (5-7, 1-3 CL) controlled the match from the first serve in doubles. Tyler Lane and Graham Beukelman blanked their opponents 6-0 at No. 1, while Ian Helfert and Andrew Roth cruised 6-1 at No. 3. Joseph Harper and Matthew Williams had the tightest doubles match of the day at No. 2 but still came away with a comfortable 6-4 win.

Lane then set the tone in singles with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 without dropping a game, running his team-leading win total to nine on the season. Josh Dawson matched that effort with a 6-0, 6-0 result of his own at No. 5, improving to 6-4 on the year. Beukelman added a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 3 for his sixth victory of the season.

The win also produced a pair of milestones lower in the lineup. Helfert earned his first singles victory of the year with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4, while Harper picked up just his second with a 6-2, 6-4 result at No. 2 — the most competitive singles match of the afternoon. Josh Clegg rounded out the sweep with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 6.

Taylor heads to Marion on Saturday to face Indiana Wesleyan at 3 p.m.