IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata men's tennis team is readying for its Atlantic East semifinal match vs Gwynedd Mercy on Thursday afternoon as the team makes returns to the postseason once again in 2021.

With a victory on Thursday afternoon, Immaculata will advance to the Atlantic East Championship match for the first time in program history. This would also be the teams first Championship match appearance since the end of the 2017 season when the team advanced and fell to Cabrini in the CSAC Championship.

Immaculata, who concluded the year with a record of 2-2 in Atlantic East play and 2-4 overall, enters play on Thursday afternoon following a 7-2 setback at the hands of Cabrini on Sunday afternoon on what was also senior day for the Mighty Macs.  Immaculata began its season with a pair of non-league setbacks at the hands of Moravian and Lancaster Bible before rebounding to defeat Marywood on the road to open league play. Immaculata followed this up with a setback at the hands of Gwynedd Mercy before defeating Neumann on the road and falling to Cabrini to conclude the regular season with a mark of 2-2 in league play.

Freshman Jason Watts has enjoyed a strong freshman season in the first doubles, and first singles spots for Immaculata, playing to a record of 3-2 in singles action while going 2-3 in doubles play alongside senior teammate Michael Chartier. For his part, Chartier has gone 3-3 in the first doubles spot, which includes a victory alongside Matt DeHaut at Gwynedd Mercy earlier this season while playing to a mark of 1-4 in second singles while also going a perfect 1-0 from the first singles spot with that victory also coming opposite Gwynedd Mercy earlier this Spring. 

In second doubles, Matt DeHaut and Nicholas John have teamed up for much of the season, playing to a record of 1-3 as a duo to this point in the season. In singles action, DeHaut has played primarily out of the third singles spot, registering a record of 1-3 on the year while also dropping a hard-fought second singles match at Gwynedd Mercy (6-4, 6-3) earlier this Spring. For his part, John has been a consistent player in the fourth singles spot for the Macs this season playing to a record of 1-3 from this position while also going 0-1 in third singles and 0-1 in fifth singles earlier in the season.

At third doubles, freshman duo Jeremy Brown and Kevin Lyons have teamed up for much of the 2021 season, entering the semifinals with a mark of 3-1 on the year. In singles play, Brown has occupied the fifth spot for much of the year playing to a mark of 0-4 on the year while Lyons has played to a record of 3-2 on the year from the sixth singles spot for Immaculata.

On Thursday afternoon at Gwynedd Mercy, Immaculata will look to avenge a narrow defeat dealt by the Griffins earlier in the season and snap a three-match losing streak to Gwynedd with an appearance in the Atlantic East Championship match on the line. In the last 10 meetings against Gwynedd Mercy, the Griffins hold a slim 6-4 edge over the Macs with the last Immaculata victory in the series coming during the 2017 season at Gwynedd Mercy.

Gwynedd Mercy enters the postseason with an identical 2-4 mark overall and a 2-2 record in conference having dropped Atlantic East matches to Cabrini to open league play and Marywood to conclude league play on Saturday, May 1^st while earning victories over Immaculata and Neumann on April 13^th and 17^th, respectively.