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HILTON HEAD, SC — The Wittenberg Tigers made it four in a row to start the 2011 outdoor season with a pair of wins on their annual Spring Break trip over Catholic and Malone.
Wittenberg won three in a row in the fall before losing to scholarship programs Findlay and Wright State to kick off the spring season indoors at Springfield Racquet Club last month. The Tigers have bounced back in a big way in Hilton Head, SC, building on their two wins to start the trip with two more Wednesday to run their overall record to 7-2.
The first win was a narrow one, 5-4 over Catholic. The Tigers dropped two of the three doubles matches, but bounced right back to sweep the top four singles courts and secure the victory. Senior Bobby Fisher (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) led the way with wins at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles, where he paired with freshman Tyler Strong (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual), who was a winner at No. 2 singles.
Fisher and Strong teamed up for one of the Tigers' two doubles wins against Malone as well, with freshman Sam Wilke (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) and sophomore Sergio Fishkin (Minsk, Belarus) pairing for the win at No. 3 doubles. Wilke added a win at No. 4 singles as Wittenberg swept the bottom three singles positions to secure a rain-shortened victory.
Key to the win was the play of senior Rob Lehner (Westerville, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales), who rallied for a three-set victory at No. 6 singles just before play was halted.