WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Two states, two matches, one day, no problem as the Otterbein men's tennis team swept both Grove City and Bethany on Saturday. The Cardinals begin the 2019 campaign 2-0, while Grove City falls to 1-4 and Bethany drops to 0-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Freshman Brandon Wall picked up two victories, as he won a 6-4, 6-0 match against Karsten Lagerquist of Grove City. In his first set, Wall hammered a shot to pick win a crucial point to win the match. Wall made quick work of his Bethany opponent winning 6-1, 6-1.
- Connor Radune won both of his matches on the day in the second singles slot. After taking a break midway through the first set and talking with head coach Tyler Stephen, Radune won the next two games in the first set and finished off his Grove City counterpart by winning 6-2, 6-0.
- Tyler Wharton used both power and finesse shots against Miguel Esteban Diaz to win 6-0, 6-1, as the senior kept Diaz guessing on which approach he would use. In his second match against Drake Berlin of Bethany, Wharton kept his composure and won 10-8 in the tiebreaker set.
- Jamie Price made his season debut against Bethany in the sixth singles spot by winning 6-1, 6-0. Derek Krieger also shined today by winning 6-0, 6-0 against Grove City and followed that performance up by defeating Raj Vijayarajah of Bethany 6-2, 6-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Wharton picked up his 43rd and 44th career victories one in convincing fashion, and the other in a grind it out match.
- Radune won eight-straight games after taking a break to talk with coach Stephen.
- It was the fifth straight year the Cardinals had multiple opponents on the same day, while today was the first time the challengers were at two different locations.
- The Cardinals have swept Bethany in back-to-back seasons, as Radune, Wharton, and Price participated in both events.
UP NEXT:
The Cardinals will travel to Orlando, Fla. during spring break and play five matches in five days, as the team's first opponent is Penn State Berks on March 3 at 8 a.m.
