Tigers Sweep Allegheny and Earlham

Casey Clagett

The Tiger men's tennis team was outstanding over the weekend, sweeping a pair of dual matches at home against NCAC rivals Earlham and Allegheny. The victory over the Quakers improved the Tigers to 3-0 in the NCAC West and set up a showdown with perennial powerhouse and two-time defending division champion Denison, which is also unbeaten, on Wednesday.

Against Earlham, which came in sporting an 11-1 overall record, Wittenberg wasn't tested, taking all six singles matches and all three doubles matches without dropping a set. Against Allegheny, several of the matches were tighter, but the outcome was the same, a 7-0 sweep.

Five of the Tigers' six singles players have winning records and all have a winning mark against NCAC West competition. Senior No. 1 player Casey Clagett (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs) is 20-8 overall and 3-0 in the NCAC West; senior No. 3 player Eric Cusick (Lima, Ohio/Senior) is 18-5 and 3-0; senior No. 4 player Mike Herzog (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) is 13-9 and 3-0; senior No. 5 player Ben Hodgkiss-Lilly (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) is 14-6 and 3-0; and freshman No. 6 player Shane Hutton (Charleston, W.V./Catholic) is 11-9 overall and 2-1.

All three doubles teams have winning records with at least 11 victories on the campaign. None of the combinations have lost an NCAC West match.