GREENCASTLE, Ind. — Coming off a successful Spring Break trip, the Wittenberg men's tennis team tested its mettle against one of the nation's finest teams, losing a deceivingly lop-sided 9-0 decision to DePauw before bouncing back to defeat Franklin by the same score. 

The split left the Tigers with records of 9-4 overall and 0-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) West Division. DePauw came into the match ranked 28th nationally and was playing its first-ever NCAC West match after the university joined the conference last summer.

The Tigers played DePauw without their full complement of players, but they bounced back nicely against Franklin on an unseasonably warm, sunny day. Freshmen Alexey Topolyanskiy and Sasha Topolyanskiy (Moscow, Russia) both were double-winners against the Grizzlies, winning at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, and No. 2 and No. 1 doubles, respectively. Sasha was joined at No. 1 doubles by junior Sergio Fishkin (Minsk, Belarus), who also won at No. 5 singles by a resounding 6-0, 6-0 score, while Alexey was paired with sophomore Sam Wilke (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) at the No. 2 doubles position. Wilke added a win at No. 4 singles.

Rounding things out, freshman Ian Streicker (South Lebanon, Ohio/Loveland)was a winner at No. 1 singles, and sophomore Jonathan Mueller (Bexley, Ohio/Hartley) picked up the decision at No. 6 singles. The tandem of sophomoresTyler Strong (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) and Joe Marra (Great Falls, Mont./Great Falls) won at No. 3 doubles.