Springfield, Ohio – For the first time since the 2013-14 season, the Wittenberg University Men's Tennis team earned an NCAC West Division victory over Wabash, toppling the visiting Little Giants by a 6-3 margin on Saturday morning at the Albright Tennis Courts in Springfield. The win was also the Tigers' first win within the NCAC West Division since the 2013-14 season when they collected victories against both Wabash and Ohio Wesleyan. At 2-4 overall against NCAC opponents this season, the Tigers will now await to see what seed they earn in the 2019 NCAC Men's Tennis Tournament, which is set for April 26-28 at North Central H.S. in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Who Stood Out

Wittenberg wasted little time jumping on top of Wabash on Saturday morning as it was a clean sweep in the doubles competition, highlighted by senior Martin Mora and rookie Joe Patton posting an 8-5 win in the top flight. Freshman Gavin Tay and senior Timmy McNulty collected an 8-3 victory in the second singles flight, while the senior duo of Luke Minard and Kieren Thomas closed out doubles with an 8-5 win in the third flight.

While the singles courts were split, 3-3, the Tigers quickly clinched the match with wins from Minard and Tay in the fifth and third flights, respectively. Minard knocked off Lukas Senn 6-1, 6-2, while Tay clinched the team win with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Duncan Roy in the third flight. McNulty also added a 6-4, 6-3 win over Nieshaal Thambipillay in the fourth flight.

Despite the match already being clinched, Mora nearly capped off a remarkable comeback in the top flight against Patrick McAuley. McAuley took set one, 6-4, but Mora stormed back with a thrilling 7-6 (7-4) win in the second set. However, McAuley took the 10-point tiebreaker in the third set by a 10-8 margin to pick up the win over Mora.

UP NEXT

The Tigers will now conclude the 2019 regular season with a pair of non-conference matches, first traveling to NCAA Div. I Wright State tomorrow (4/14) for a 4:00 p.m. match, before hosting Otterbein on Friday (4/19) for a 3:30 p.m. start in Springfield.