OBERLIN, Ohio — Wabash College won the doubles point and got a dramatic three-set comeback from
Murilo Guarniari at second singles, but No. 34 Oberlin College rallied with four singles victories to hand the No. 48 Little Giants a 4-3 loss in North Coast Athletic Conference men's tennis Saturday afternoon at Hunsinger Courts.
Wabash fell to 11-10 overall and 1-4 in NCAC play, while Oberlin improved to 10-6 and 2-2 in the conference.
The Little Giants claimed the opening doubles point by winning two of three matches but could not carry the momentum into singles, where the Yeomen took four of six courts to secure the come-from-behind victory.
The No. 1 doubles pairing of
Augusto Ghidini and
Rafael Rin gave Wabash the early advantage, defeating Oberlin's Shawn Lisann and Cameron Weiss, 7-5. The match was the first to finish on the doubles side. Wabash clinched the doubles point when
Vittorio Bona and
Cole Shifferly defeated Max Brose and Oliver Knijnenburg, 6-2, at No. 3 doubles. The victory gave the Little Giants a 1-0 lead heading into singles play. Oberlin answered at No. 2 doubles, where Zain Makada and Sebastien Naginski defeated Wabash's
Murilo Guarniari and
Edmon Neto, 6-2.
The six singles matches played out in dramatic fashion, with the overall lead changing hands as courts finished one by one.
The first singles result came at the No. 5 position, where Oberlin's Cameron Weiss defeated Ghidini, 6-4, 7-5, evening the team score at 1-1.
Oberlin took its first lead of the day when Dash Smith defeated Shifferly, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 1 singles, putting the Yeomen ahead 2-1.
The lead grew to 3-1 when Makada defeated Rin in three sets at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. Rin fought back to take the second set convincingly after dropping the opener but was unable to sustain the push in the third.
Wabash's Guarniari provided the day's most dramatic turnaround at No. 2 singles, falling 0-6 in the first set before storming back to defeat Lisann, 0-6, 6-1, 6-4. The three-set comeback pulled Wabash within 3-2 and kept the Little Giants' hopes alive.
Those hopes were extinguished at No. 4 singles, where Oberlin's Enrique Margain outlasted
Tharakesh Ashokar, 7-5, 7-5, clinching the match for the Yeomen at 4-2.
Wabash's Neto closed the gap in the final match to conclude, defeating Naginski, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 6 singles, to set the final score at 4-3.
Wabash continues its Ohio road swing Sunday with an NCAC match at Ohio Wesleyan University. First serve is set for 1 p.m.
