PSU-Berks Results
Ursinus Results
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Otterbein men's tennis team has begun competition on its annual spring trip to the Sunshine State, posting a convincing 8-1 victory over Penn St.-Berks on Sunday before falling by the same margin to regionally-ranked Ursinus on day two.
The Cardinals, now 4-1 on the season, have now completed a trio of matches this spring season and suffered just their first loss of the campaign to Ursinus, which is ranked 19th in the latest Atlantic South regional poll.
A day off from competition on Tuesday awaits the Cardinals before they return to action at the USTA National Campus to take on Emerson in the morning and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in the night cap. Otterbein concludes its spring trip on Thursday against Saint Anselm.
Match One vs. PSU-Berks
Otterbein tallied three convincing wins in doubles play to open the match against the Lions, as freshmen duo
Connor Radune and
Jared Deel took down Diego Olazagasti and Mostafa Rahmy in the top spot (8-4).
Juniors
Tyler Wharton and
Juan Vera followed with the largest margin of victory in doubles for the Cards with a defeat of Will Byler and Grant Batzer in second doubles (8-2). Sophomore
Riley Yost and freshman
Jamie Price then paired for a solid win in the third spot over Curtis Uhle and Federico Ochoa (8-3).
Yost and Deel then picked up shut-out wins in singles play in the fifth and six spots, respectively, while Price and Vera added two more stellar outings with a pair of 6-2, 6-2 victories in third and fourth singles, respectively.
Wharton was the other winner for the Cards in singles competition with a 6-3, 6-0 win in the second spot. Radune battled Byler as the No. 1 before ultimately falling 6-4, 6-3.
Match Two vs. #19 Ursinus
The Bears of Ursinus were a tough task for the Cardinals, as they had not surrendered a point through one match so far this spring.
Otterbein did change that stat though as Vera picked up perhaps the most notable win of his career, outlasting Ursinus' Peter Shields in fourth singles in three sets. Vera fell 3-6 in set one before rebounding with a narrow 6-4 victory, followed by a gritty 12-10 win to clinch the match.
The Cards did battle in three other matches between singles and doubles play, including a three-set loss for Yost in fifth singles in which he claimed the initial set. Deel also played a tough match in the sixth spot, also going ahead 1-0 in the first set before falling in three.
In doubles, the closest Otterbein came was in the third spot as Price and Yost were defeated 8-5.
