DELAWARE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's tennis team defeated regionally-ranked Ohio Wesleyan 5-4 Wednesday afternoon, as the Cardinals worked well as a team and won all three doubles matches. The Cardinals improve to 15-2 on the year, while Ohio Wesleyan drops to 14-13 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Cardinals earned three points in the doubles portion, as Brandon Wall and Jared Deel won first doubles 8-6. Connor Radune and Tyler Wharton claimed the second Cardinal point winning second doubles 8-6. In third doubles, Derek Krieger and Tom Ohler helped Otterbein gain a third point winning 8-6.  
• Ohio Wesleyan fought back and won the first four singles matches, as Ohler lost in a third set tiebreaker (10-7).
• Krieger and Yost continued to dominate at the fifth and sixth singles, to give Otterbein the 5-4 edge.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• The Cardinals bounced back and defeated the Battling Bishops for the first time since 2014, when the team won 7-2.
• Ohio Wesleyan defeated the Cardinals 9-0 in back-to-back seasons, as the Battling Bishops combined to win 31 games in the past two seasons.
• Krieger and Yost have a combined 29-2 record on the season.
• The last time the Cardinals faced a ranked team was in 2017 when Otterbein lost 9-0 to John Carroll, as the Cardinals have not defeated a regionally-ranked opponent in over a decade.

WHAT THEY SAID:

• Following the victory head coach Tyler Stephen said "There seemed to be an emotional letdown after the John Carroll match, but the guys were able to regain their composure and emotions heading into the match."
• Stephen harped on the depth saying "Our depth has been our strength since day one." Stephen continued, "Even at practice there is never a one-sided match everyone is competitive."
• Stephen said following the JCU match, "The guys needed to learn the sky isn't falling when you lose a match, the sun will come up the next day. I was extremely proud of the way they came back today and it is always nice to defeat a ranked opponent, but now it is on to the next match."

UP NEXT:
The Cardinals will battle with Wittenberg on Friday with the match scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m.