CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — Wabash celebrated Senior Day and secured a postseason berth Sunday, defeating John Carroll University 6-1 at the Collett Tennis Center to guarantee the Little Giants a spot in this week's North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament. Six seniors —
Tharakesh Ashokar,
Blake Discher II,
Augusto Ghidini,
Ethan Koeneman,
Cole Shifferly, and
Eduardo Werneck — were honored prior to the start of the match.
The 49th-ranked Little Giants improved to 14-10 overall and 4-4 in NCAC play with the victory. John Carroll fell to 6-8 overall and 2-6 in conference matches. Wabash will play in the NCAC Men's Tennis Tournament, which begins Friday, April 24, at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
Wabash took control early by winning two of the three doubles matches to claim the opening point.
The first doubles match to finish came at No. 1, where Ghidini and
Rafael Rin teamed for a 6-2 victory over Jean Davin and Anthony Markello. Shortly after,
Murilo Guarniari and Shifferly delivered another 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles against Phillip Gorun and Nathan Tam to give the Little Giants the doubles point. John Carroll picked up its lone doubles win at No. 3, where Dylan Murlin and Cavan Boutillette edged Discher and Koeneman by a 7-5 score.
Wabash quickly built on that momentum in singles play.
The first singles match to finish came at No. 3, where Shifferly dominated Gorun 6-0, 6-1 to extend the Little Giants' lead to 2-0 in the team score. Rin followed with a straight-set victory at No. 2 singles, beating Markello 6-3, 6-3 to move Wabash one point from clinching the match. John Carroll answered at No. 1 singles, where Davin rallied past Guarniari 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 for the Blue Streaks' only team point of the afternoon.
Ashokar provided the clinching win for Wabash at No. 4 singles, defeating Tam 6-3, 6-2 to secure the Little Giants' fourth point and lock up the team victory. After the match had been decided, Ghidini added another Wabash win at No. 5 singles, posting a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Murlin. Werneck closed out the afternoon with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Boutillette at No. 6 singles.
Wabash will face either DePauw or Wooster in the opening match of the conference tournament on Friday.
