FINAL RESULTS

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The final match of the regular season for both Otterbein and John Carroll experienced quite a few emotions and bit of tension on the men's tennis scene, as the two familiar foes squared off during a sunny Saturday morning.

The Blue Streaks used early momentum in sweeping doubles to eventually go on and win the match 7-2, following a slate of up-and-down singles results.

That set the stage/bracket for the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, which will see six teams lace up this coming week and a champion eventually crowned in Ada. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.

Otterbein rests as the No. 3 seed and will host a quarterfinal match with nearby Capital on Tuesday afternoon. The winner advances to play second-seeded JCU come Friday.

Also on the day, the Cardinals also recognized a pair of graduating seniors in Dylan Shook and Nate Stevens for their efforts into the program.
Ohio Northern will be the top seed (and host) after winning the league's regular season. Baldwin Wallace and Mount Union are also in the mix as the other quarterfinal match.

John Carroll emerged to win all three doubles courts against Otterbein by scores of 8-2, 8-3 and 8-5 moving from top to bottom. Shook and Will Newberry provided a nice battle in the third spot before succumbing.

Joshua Mammen (No. 2 singles) swept through Grant Sarnowski by rather comfortable scores of 6-2, 6-3, while Neil Reddy emerged on the fourth line by nearly identical marks of 6-3, 6-3 across his trip.

A few other matches were very tight and could have unfolded different ways. Newberry had a pair of drag-it-out sets at fifth singles before resting on the low end of a 7-5, 6-4 battle.

Nikita Kitaev overcame a narrow 7-5 loss in his opening frame to respond with a 6-4 victory in the middle set. He then went toe-to-toe against Dylan Westmeyer in a lengthy breaker, but was unfortunately outlasted 10-8.

Otterbein will now be striving to snag that elusive OAC title after falling in the championship match last year against Ohio Northern. Stay tuned to our website and social media outlets for updated coverage throughout the week!