LIMA, Ohio – What began as a wild back-and-forth showdown in doubles play, resulting in an early lead for the No. 3 seed Cardinals, unfortunately ended up with a disappointing loss in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament semifinals into Friday evening at the Westwood Center.

John Carroll, seeded second in the bracket, responded from the initial Otterbein momentum to win four singles courts and emerge with a 5-2 victory. It pushes the Blue Streaks into Saturday's final against host Ohio Northern, with a spot in the NCAA's on the line.

DOUBLES PLAY:

The Cardinals were looking to avenge a loss to JCU in the regular-season finale last week, in which they dropped all three doubles matches before trying to catch up. This time around, Otterbein found a way to snag two of three courts (which all ended in 8-6 scores) to assume an early lead…

Max Fickas and Neil Reddy displayed fortitude in taking down John Carroll standout Logan Langovsky and his teammate Grant Sarnowski at first doubles, winning 8-6 after losing by six games in the previous meeting.

Joshua Mammen and Jake Chilcote did the same on the middle line in capturing a second point, and Will Newberry/Dylan Shook played their opponents close before resting just short.

SINGLES PLAY:

The Blue Streaks would respond admirably in taking four singles matches to reach enough team points, albeit some battles from the Cardinals. Newberry traded 6-2 sets on the fifth line in a match that was headed to a decisive third, while Nikita Kitaev succumbed after competitive scores of 6-4, 6-3 at the sixth court…
Langovsky got even at first singles and a pair of his teammates also won in straight sets midway down the lineup.

Just as he did last week, Mammen was in control of Sarnowski following a crafty 7-5 victory in the opening frame of second singles. He also won the first game of the next set before the match was called.

LOOKING AHEAD:

The Cardinals end the year with an even 9-9 record and will look to continue building for next season, in which a good chunk of the lineup is eligible to return.