BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's tennis team will have an opportunity to compete for the program's first-ever Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship on Saturday morning after knocking off second-seeded Kutztown, 5-4, in the conference semifinals on Friday afternoon. The Lakers improved to 13-5 overall while the Golden Bears dropped to 14-5 on the season.

Mercyhurst will square off against top-seeded Edinboro University, which handled fourth-seeded West Chester, 5-0, on Friday afternoon. The match will take place at 1:00 p.m.

Kutztown won two of the three doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead into singles competition. The Lakers' only doubles victory came at #1 when junior Travis Beck and freshman Nenad Terzic teamed up for an 8-4 win over Kutztown's top duo of Matt Maguire and Rich Lichtenwalner.

Sophomore Conor McCooey tied the contest at 2-2 with a straight-set victory at #5 singles over Kutztown's Gabriel Nogara Souza. But, the Golden Bears recaptured the lead with a victory at #6 by Indi Reverte over sophomore Ross Molinaro IV.

Junior Robert Rizea tied the match again, 3-3, with his victory at #3 and Terzic gave the Lakers a 4-3 advantage with a victory at #1 over Kutztown's Varun Desai.

Lichtenwalner tied the match for Kuztown, defeating freshman Andoni Marquez in straight sets. With the match tied at 4-4, all eyes were focused on the #2 singles match between Mercyhurst's Beck and Kutztown's Maguire.

Beck took the first set, in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3), before Maguire followed suit in the second set, 7-6 (7-0). In the third set, Beck captured the victory and sent the Lakers to the title match with a 6-4 victory.

Mercyhurst and Edinboro met back on April 8 with the Fighting Scots earning a 5-4 victory over the Lakers at the Westwood Racquet Club.

#3 Mercyhurst 5, #2 Kutztown 4
Doubles Competition
1. Travis Beck / Nenad Terzic (MER-M) def. Matt Maguire / Rich Lichtenwalner (KUTZ-M) 8-4
2. Varun Desai / Ken Beebe (KUTZ-M) def. Conor McCooey / Andoni Marquez (MER-M) 8-5
3. Gabriel Nogara Souza / Indi Reverte (KUTZ-M) def. Robert Rizea / Ross Molinaro IV (MER-M) 8-6
Singles Competition
1. Nenad Terzic (MER-M) def. Varun Desai (KUTZ-M) 6-3, 6-1
2. Travis Beck (MER-M) def. Matt Maguire (KUTZ-M) 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (0-7), 6-4
3. Robert Rizea (MER-M) def. Joan Oliver Perez (KUTZ-M) 6-3, 6-0
4. Rich Lichtenwalner (KUTZ-M) def. Andoni Marquez (MER-M) 6-4, 6-3
5. Conor McCooey (MER-M) def. Gabriel Nogara Souza (KUTZ-M) 6-2, 6-0
6. Indi Reverte (KUTZ-M) def. Ross Molinaro IV (MER-M) 6-2, 6-2