ALLIANCE, Ohio – It was a combo weekend that resulted in a split for the Otterbein men's tennis team, which carried some competitive rackets up to northeast Ohio for Friday/Saturday action.

The Cardinals began the stretch against easily their toughest opponent to date this year, taking on No. 4-ranked and defending national champion Case Western Reserve at Medical Mutual Tennis Center up in Cleveland. Despite losing 9-0, the group battled admirably and extended multiple points/sets.

Otterbein quickly shrugged off that result in getting back to conference play on Saturday afternoon, storming past host Mount Union (7-2) in grabbing its second OAC win.

CWRU HIGHLIGHTS:

The Cardinals won five total games in the doubles section, with top squads of Neil Reddy/Max Fickas and Joshua Mammen/Jake Chilcote both exchanging quality points until falling 8-2 each.

Fickas battled with Spartan ace Matthew Plunkett 6-2, 6-2 and Mammen did the same by similar scores of 6-2, 6-3 on the second line. Chilcote, Reddy and Nikita Kitaev all won between 3-4 games themselves moving down the board, not allowing Case to simply coast.

MOUNT UNION HIGHLIGHTS:

The Purple Raiders won a nail-biting outcome at first doubles, as Fickas and Reddy were forced to swallow a tough 8-7 result atop the board…

But teammates picked them up nicely to carry a team lead into the singles portion. Mammen and Chilcote prevailed in another dogfight (8-6) on the middle line while Kitaev and Dylan Shook ousted their counterparts 8-4.

Otterbein captured all but one of the individual showdown to pull away and clinch the bout – Fickas, Mammen, Kitaev and Nate Stevens all cruised rather nicely in straight sets on their lines, while Chilcote dug deep for a gritty W…

He dropped the opening set 3-6 before responding to salvage the match by way of a 6-2 effort in the middle set. Chilcote used that momentum into a 6-3 outcome in the third for a memorable triumph.

UP NEXT:

The Cardinals will have a full week off before traveling down to play Marietta College next Saturday, with opening serve tentatively set for 1 p.m.