Match Results

WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The Otterbein men's tennis team outlasted cross-town rival Capital 5-4 on Saturday afternoon in a back-and-forth battle out at the Sanders Tennis Courts.

The Cardinals (8-8 overall) improve to 3-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play and have now won six of their last eight matches since returning from spring break. Otterbein has a quick turnaround on its hands as it hosts Berea (Ky.) tomorrow at 12 p.m. 

Otterbein manufactued a 2-0 advantage in the early going thanks to consecutive wins in third and second doubles, respectively. Sophomore Juan Vera and freshman Logan Sullivan opened the match with an 8-0 shutout of Capital's Ben Heiland and Hunter Walter, before sophomore duo Tyler Wharton and Derek Krieger took down Santino DiMichalangelo and John Roberts 8-2.

Capital wrapped up doubles play with its first point of the match following an 8-4 win in first doubles from Dale Booher and C.J. Martin over Cardinal seniors Ben Keen and Perry Williams.

The Cardinals put three-straight points on the scoreboard in their favor after claiming victory in the first three matches of singles competition, led by freshman Riley Yost who picked up his team-leading 13th win of the year in sixth singles with a win over Heiland (6-2, 6-2).

Wharton then defeated Roberts in third singles (6-3, 6-2), while Vera proceeded to cruise past Walter in fifth singles (6-2, 6-1). Capital collected wins in first, second and fourth singles to close out the match, with Keen as the No. 2 battling to a third set while Krieger forced a third-set tiebreaker before falling 10-7 as the Cards' No. 4.