Tigers Beat Marietta, Eastern Nazarene To Wrap Up Spring Break Trip

HILTON HEAD, SC - The Wittenberg men's tennis team put the finishing touches on an outstanding Spring Break trip with a pair of victories to run the Tigers' overall record to 7-1 on the 2013-14 season.

Wittenberg started its third day of competition with an 8-1 win over Ohio Athletic Conference rival Marietta and followed that with a 7-2 decision against Eastern Nazarene. The Tigers finished 4-1 for the trip.

Against Marietta, the Tigers recorded a sweep of the doubles competition to set the stage for the team victory. At No. 1, the tandem of freshman Juan Mena (Quito, Ecuador/Colego Amrcano-Quito) and senior Tyler Strong (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) picked up an 8-3 victory. Sophomores Dennis Gleason (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles) and Jialang Woo (Shanghai, China/Yew Chung Int. School) were victors at No. 2 and freshmen Sean Munson (Chicago, Ill./Roycemore) and Akbar Tiwana (Lahore, Pakistan/Aitchison) teamed up to secure the point at No. 3.

In singles, Wittenberg started off with a win from sophomore Stas Pakhomov (Richmond, British Columbia/Sir Winston Churchill) at No. 1. Tiwana followed at No. 3, sophomore Mitchell Patterson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) won at No. 4, Gleason won at No. 5 and Munson rounded things out with a win at No. 6.

The Eastern Nazarene match started out with Wittenberg winning two of the three points in doubles. Strong and Mena ran their season record to 6-2 overall, including a 4-1 mark at the No. 1 position, with an 8-0 whitewashing. Tiwana teamed up with Pakhomov to win at No. 2.

Wittenberg then claimed five of the six singles points to secure the victory. Pakhomov was a winner at No. 1, and Mena followed suit at No. 2. Strong, Patterson and Woo capped the match with victories at the fourth, fifth and sixth positions.

The Tigers now head home for a match on Sunday, March 16, at perennial powerhouse DePauw.