HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Wittenberg men's tennis team opened the spring portion of its 2012-13 schedule with a couple of wins, sweeping Misericordia 9-0 and lifting an 8-1 decision off Penn St. Behrend to improve to 6-0 in dual matches on the year.
The Tigers won top to bottom against Misericordia, featuring decisive 6-0, 6-0 victories in the top three singles matches, including wins for No. 1 sophomore Ian Streicker (South Lebanon, Ohio/Loveland), No. 2 sophomore Sasha Topolyanskiy (Moscow, Russia/School 712) and No. 3 junior Sam Wilke (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin).
Junior Tyler Strong (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) won a 6-0, 6-1 bout at No. 4 and freshman Tom Pinhas (Miami, Fla./U.E. El Angel) took a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 5, while senior Stuart Zorn (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) was the match's fourth straight-games winner at No. 6 singles.
Doubles play set the stage for the individual heroics as the Tigers did not drop a game in any doubles pairing. Senior Sergio Fishkin (Minsk, Belarus/Gymnasium 55) and Sasha Topolyanskiy won in the first position, Wilke and Strong won at No. 2, and junior Joe Marra (Great Falls, Mont./Great Falls) and sophomore Jialang Woo (Shanghai, China/Yew Chung Int. School) handled their No. 3 opponent.
The match with Penn St. Behrend was more competitive. Fishkin and Sasha Topolyanskiy again won at No. 1 doubles, this time by an 8-5 score, and Wilke and Strong were victorious in the second spot by an 8-2 mark. In third doubles, Streicker and Marra teamed up for an 8-1 victory.
In singles competition, Streicker made his a 3-0 day, including doubles play, with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 1. Sophomore Alexey Topolyanskiy (Moscow, Russia/School 712) won the No. 2 matchup 6-1, 6-0, a score which Woo duplicated in the No. 5 position. Fishkin fell in No. 3 singles but not without a fight. He took the first set 6-4 but dropped the second by the same score, and in the tiebreaker fell by a tight 10-8 final margin.
The Tigers continue their spring break trip with a Noon match against Wilkes tomorrow, March 6.