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Kristyn Russell

The Wittenberg men's and women's tennis teams have done all that Mother Nature has allowed them to do. While dodging raindrops over the last two months, the Tiger men have compiled an 8-4 overall record and a mark of 3-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference West Division and the Tiger women have posted records of 10-2 and 3-2. Now it's on to the conference championship tournament this weekend at Oberlin.

On the men's side, four matches have been lost to bad weather, including two in the last two days. Still, the young Tigers have great momentum as they head to Oberlin after claiming a piece of the NCAC West title with a win last Saturday over Earlham and then gaining an off-court victory on Tuesday with the announcement that the Tigers would be a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament by virtue of tiebreaker criteria. The No. 1 team in each division plays the No. 4 team from the other division in the opening round.

Five of the eight Tiger men's players who have played at least five singles matches this season have posted winning records to date. Junior Matt Treblas (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) is 10-9 at No. 3, sophomore Nick McLean (Port Clinton, Ohio/Port Clinton) is a team-best 13-2, including 4-0 in the NCAC West, while primarily playing in the No. 4 spot, sophomore Steve Wilson (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) is 8-5 while primarily playing at No. 5, sophomore Brian Pierce (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) is 5-4 while primarily playing at No. 5 and junior Ben Burkam (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) is 9-4 while playing fourth, fifth and sixth singles. In doubles, the top tandem is McLean and freshman John Shields (New Kensington, Pa./Valley), who have a 6-3 mark at the No. 3 position, including a 3-1 mark against divisional foes.

On the women's side, the Tigers have put together a fine season. Sporting a lineup of two seniors, two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman in singles, the Tigers have proved they will be a force to be reckoned with at the conference championship this weekend. The Tiger women have lost three matches to weather concerns this spring.

All six singles players and all three doubles teams have winning records. JuniorEmily Figel (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) is 9-8 at No. 1 singles, junior Sarah Fassler (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) is 11-3 at second singles, sophomoreKristyn Russell (Loveland, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) is a team-best 14-3 at the third spot, freshman Emma Robinow (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Yellow Springs) is 12-5 at No. 4, senior Deana Nowakowski (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) is 10-6 at No. 5 and senior Megan Maher (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) is 8-7 at the sixth position. In doubles, Figel and Nowakowski are 7-4 at No. 1, Maher and sophomore Mallory Meyer (Darien, Conn./Darien) are 9-6 at No. 2 and Robinow and Russell are 10-5 at No. 3.