MARIETTA RESULTS
JCU RESULTS

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The regular season is beginning to wind down, but the Otterbein men's tennis team is continuing to push full throttle ahead with hopes of finding complete form in the postseason.

The Cardinals now sit 7-7 overall and 3-2 within Ohio Athletic Conference play after splitting two weekend road matches, blanking host Marietta on Friday afternoon before dropping a hard-fought showdown (6-3) up at John Carroll across Saturday action. The latter was a rematch of last year's OAC Final.

Otterbein won all doubles courts at Marietta by no worse than an 8-2 margin, and then took almost every singles matchup with relative ease. Jamie Price ended up in a dogfight with Spencer Hall at No. 2 singles, rotating 6-3 sets before emerging 10-3 in the decisive breaker.

Will Newberry worked a few points longer for a 6-3 decision in his second set, while all other teammates cruised to help secure the shutout.

A quick turnaround saw the team head two-plus hours north to meet the Blue Streaks, who narrowly claimed a WILD title contest last spring in Mason by a 5-4 score. The final court was decided on a tiebreaker.

Otterbein had a smooth 8-2 victory at third doubles behind Dylan Shook and Will Newberry, but lost the other two courts in very competitive fashion. Price and Gabriel Atteh lost 8-7 on the two line and Jake McDivitt/Tom Ohler settled on the low end of an 8-4 bout.

JCU took the top four lines in singles, with Mark Beebe having to work extra in putting away a scrappy Price at the No. 3 position. Price rallied to win the middle set (6-4) but couldn't quite push through in a decisive third frame… 2-6.

Newberry also stayed the course in a full-distanced showdown, rallying from a 6-1 loss in the opener to win the next two by counts of 7-5 and 6-3. Bobab Mihajlov prevailed on the six line… trading sets before his opponent retired.

Otterbein will have a week off to focus on exams before hosting Mount Union for Senior Day.