The Transylvania men's tennis team finished off their 2015-2016 regular season with a crucial win against the Franklin Grizzlies, sealing the deal with a 6-3 match win to clinch third place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings.

The Pioneers completed a 6-2 run against their HCAC opponents in 2016, winning three of their final four matches.

The Pioneers secured the 6-3 victory by taking two of three doubles matches against the Grizzlies. While Franklin's number one crew of Ethan Caldwell and Alex Hammer fended off Robert Albrecht and Dylan Conner in doubles action by a pro-set score of 8-4, the Pioneers took care of matters in the other doubles duels. Zachary Meikle and Luke Groene teamed up to coast over Dean Elrod and Kyle Sauley 8 to 1 in #2 doubles. Joshua Buckman and Reza Haider made quick work of Nathan Beasley and Dan Hicks with an 8-0 win.

Transylvania sealed up wins in #1, #4, #5, and #6 singles. Albrecht returned the favor to Hammer one-on-one in the #1 singles match with a 6-3, 6-1 win. Buckman worked his way past Elrod in three sets, taking the win with a 10-4 super tiebreaker win in the third set. Groene controlled a #5 singles match against Hicks with a 6-2, 6-0 victory, and Haider dominated his #6 singles match against Beasley, winning 6-0, 6-0 in straight sets.

Having clinched a berth in the HCAC Men's Tennis Conference Tournament, the Pioneers will open the postseason circuit as the No. 3 seed as they head to the West Indy Racquet Club and take on Hanover, who finished one game behind the Pioneers in the season standings.

HCAC Men's Tennis Tournament action begins on Friday.