CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Fairmont State men's tennis team won the Mountain East Conference Tournament Championship for the first time in program history after defeating Charleston, 4-3, in the championship match on Sunday afternoon at Schoenbaum Courts in Charleston.
 
With the score tied at 3-3, Fairmont State’s Kan Watnanabe won a tiebreaker in the third set, 7-4, to give the Falcons the MEC Tournament championship. Watanabe won the first set 6-3, before Charleston’s Vicente Garcia recovered with a 6-3 win in set two.
 
The Golden Eagles earned the first point of the afternoon after taking No. 1 & No. 3 doubles.

In singles play, Fairmont State’s Elia Barozzi won in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) at No. 1. Alexandre Pages also completed a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 4 singles for the Falcons. FSU’s Mohamed El Helaly (6-2, 6-2) was also victorious in the No. 5 spot.
 
Charleston won singles matches at No. 3 and No. 6. Jowan Rawson won 6-2, 6-1, at No. 3, and Lennert Stevens knotted the match at 3-3 with a 6-0, 7-5 win at No. 6 for the Golden Eagles.
 
Watanabe earned a 6-3 win in the opening set at No. 2, before dropping the second set, 3-6. He trailed 5-2 against Garcia in the third set and roared back and won three consecutive games to force a tiebreaker. Watanabe completed the comeback in the tiebreaker and won 7-4 to secure the championship for the Fighting Falcons.