MASON, Ohio – In thrilling fashion, the Otterbein University men's tennis team defeated Baldwin Wallace University, 4-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals. A tiebreak win by Max Fickas sent the No. 2 seeded Cardinals to tomorrow's championship match over the No. 3 seed Yellow Jackets.
 
The Cardinals claimed the doubles point with wins at both No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. In the No. 2 doubles bout, Fickas and Halen Hamstead were terrific, defeating Tyler Fenton and Vincent Cannata by a 6-2 margin. Neil Reddy and Sanjan Shanker made quick work of Severin Kretchmar and Jacob Weingart at No. 3 doubles, winning 6-1 for the Otterbein point. 
 
Baldwin Wallace found momentum with victories at No. 4 singles and No. 6 singles. For the Cardinals, Jake Chilcote earned a 6-2, 6-3, win over Tyler Fenton in the No. 3 singles matchup. 
 
With Otterbein leading 3-2, both the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches went into tiebreakers. At No. 1 singles, sophomore Sanjan Shanker answered after a 6-4 defeat in the first set with a 7-6 win in the second to force a tiebreaker. 
 
The match was sealed with Fickas at No. 2 singles. After winning the first, 6-3, the senior dropped a 6-4 second set to Vincent Cannata. In the decisive final set, Fickas turned in a gutsy performance, winning 6-4 to send Otterbein to the title match. 
 
Tomorrow, Otterbein will face off against Ohio Northern in the OAC Championship match. The match will be held 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's match, which takes place at 10 a.m. The match will be held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.