A roster entirely made up of sophomores and freshmen simply probably doesn't know any better. For them, John Carroll men's tennis history is no longer than two years old.

But for a program that dates back in various incarnations to the 1930's, what took place on Friday, May 8, 2015, was history in the making.

Solid doubles play followed by dominant singles efforts catapulted the John Carroll Blue Streaks to a 5-1 victory over Franciscan University in its opening round match of the NCAA Division III Championships in a battle staged at the VandenBerg Courts on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

Box Score

The #1 duo of Jad Abdul-Aal and Kyle Mollison made quick work of Joseph Quiza and Zachary Quiza by an 8-3 count.

In the #2 match, Dillon O'Brien and Scott Adsit trailed 7-1, but then won five straight games to pull within 7-6. In a back-and-forth 14th game, the Blue Streaks pair fended off two match points and also had two chances to knot the set. But Jarek Sulak and John Gallagher came though on their third match points to win 8-6.

Alex Guthrie and Nick Siciliano built a 4-1 lead, let its slip away at 4-4, then kicked into an extra gear to win 8-4 at #3 doubles over Mitchell Plys and Connor Jooste to give the Blue Streaks a 2-1 cushion heading into singles play.

At one time during the singles round, John Carroll was either tied or held the lead on all six courts. First, Tyler Cole simply ran away with his match at #6 singles, defeating Joseph Staniszewski 6-1, 6-0.

The Blue Streaks needed two more points to win the match, and the top two singles players delivered. First Mollison won his #2 match in straight sets, and just minutes later, Abdul-Aal sealed John Carroll's first NCAA win with a 6-2 6-1 triumph over Zachary Quiza.

The win pushed John Carroll's record to 12-11 overall heading into a second round match against host and #9 ranked Kenyon. The Lords enter tournament play with 19-5 record and are winners of their last 12 matches. Kenyon earned its spot on the national stage by claiming the North Coast Athletic Conference title for the ninth straight season. The appearance in the NCAA Tournament is the Lords' 14th straight and 19th overall.