WOOSTER RESULTS
GROVE CITY RESULTS

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's tennis team will look to learn and grow from a pair of challenging defeats leading into spring break, as the Cardinals will enter the time away from campus after losses to Wooster and Grove City.

The Cardinals, now 3-3 on the season, absorbed a tough result over the weekend against the powerhouse Fighting Scots at Aspen Racquet Club. Wooster won all courts in straight sets, with the closest decision being an 8-6 doubles result involving Will Newberry and Boban Mihajlov.

Otterbein returned to campus and hosted Grove City (Pa.) across Wednesday afternoon, a match that began at 3:30 but moved indoor to the Clements Center as a result of darkness. After more than three and a half hours, the Wolverines prevailed by a 6-3 team score in a matchup that saw a bit of everything…

The Cards (playing again without the injured Jamie Price) held a 2-1 lead after doubles play, seeing the tandems of Tom Ohler/Jake McDivitt win 8-5 at the top and Armando DiMichaelangelo/Gabriel Atteh emerging 8-3 at the third position.

Four singles contests would ultimately go to a winner-take-all frame, played in match breakers as opposed to full third sets. Boban Mihajlov won on the No. 5 court via lengthy scores… 7-5, 6-7 (8-10) and then 11-9 in a decisive breaker.

Three other Cardinals weren't quite as fortunate, however. Will Newberry (3) forced an extra session before coming up short 10-5. Dylan Shook (4) flip-flopped sets until another disappointing 10-5 breaker.

McDivitt had a wild slugfest with Grove City's No. 1 Karsten Lagerquist, trading 7-5 victories that led into a culminating race to double-digit points. In the end, the top Wolverine found a way to emerge 10-7.

"It's been a frustrating couple weeks for a few reasons… we never like losing and need to make sure we approach this the right way," head coach Tyler Stephen said. "But this is a group that will continue working hard and not make excuses."

The Cardinals will now transition to five matches in a four-day period over spring break, embarking down to Orlando after not having the trip last spring. Showdowns against Wheaton, Ursinus, Covenant, Monmouth and Hampden-Sydney are on the slate.

"We have to be better, but I know we'll look back on the winter and use these lumps to our advantage in the long run," Stephen added. "We understand our potential and will strive to come around when it matters most."