DELAWARE, Ohio — The Wabash College tennis team rebounded from Saturday's 4-3 loss at Oberlin College with a convincing 5-2 victory over Ohio Wesleyan in North Coast Athletic Conference action Sunday afternoon at the Luttinger Family Tennis Center.
The Little Giants improved to 12-10 overall and 2-4 in NCAC play, while the Battling Bishops fell to 6-11 and 1-5 in conference action.
Wabash seized control early by sweeping the doubles point behind three decisive wins across the board.
The No. 3 doubles pair was the first to finish, as
Tharakesh Ashokar and
Matthew Haas defeated Zach Heister and Rainer Hall, 6-2. The No. 1 team of
Augusto Ghidini and
Rafael Rin followed with a 6-4 victory over Kobe Francis and Ian Tsai, clinching the doubles point and giving Wabash an early 1-0 lead.
Vittorio Bona and
Cole Shifferly completed the doubles sweep with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-1) win over Marcus Bode and Gabe Fogle at No. 2.
The Little Giants carried that momentum into singles play, where Bona was dominant. Bona blanked Rainer Hall 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles, the first singles match to finish, stretching Wabash's advantage to 2-0.
Rafael Rin was nearly as impressive at No. 3 singles, dispatching Kobe Francis 6-1, 6-0 to push the lead to 3-0.
Ohio Wesleyan got on the board when Ian Tsai defeated
Cole Shifferly 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, trimming the deficit to 3-1. But the Little Giants answered quickly, as
Faustino Dimuro earned a 6-2, 6-2 win over Zach Heister at No. 6 singles to make it 4-1.
The Bishops' Marcus Bode claimed a 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) victory over
Edmon Neto at No. 4 singles in one of the afternoon's most competitive matches, pulling Ohio Wesleyan within 4-2. The super tiebreaker went down to the wire before Bode prevailed.
The final match of the day went to Wabash, as
Murilo Guarniari outlasted Gabe Fogle 6-4, 6-7 (8-6), 10-4 at No. 2 singles in another tightly contested affair, sealing the 5-2 final.
Wabash returns home to wrap up the regular season next weekend with a pair of NCAC matches, hosting the College of Wooster on Saturday and John Carroll on Sunday.
