Tigers Top Ohio Wesleyan For Key NCAC West Win
Doubles sweep propels Wittenberg to victory over Battling Bishops.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers defended their home courts by topping North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) West Division rival Ohio Wesleyan 7-2.
The Tigers improved to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the NCAC West. Ohio Wesleyan fell to 6-13 overall and 0-4 in the division.
The match started with a doubles sweep for the Tigers, which set the stage for the convincing win. At No. 1, the tandem of junior Alexey Topolyanskiy (Moscow, Russia/School 712) and sophomore Stas Pakhomov (Richmond, British Columbia/Sir Winston Churchill) picked up an 8-1 win, followed by senior Tyler Strong (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) and freshman Juan Mena (Quito, Ecuador/Colego Americano-Quito) by an 8-3 score at No. 2, and sophomore Dennis Gleason (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles) and freshman Akbar Tiwana (Lahore, Pakistan/Aitchison) by an 8-3 score at No. 3.
Mena, Strong and sophomore Mitchell Patterson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) were straight sets winners at the No. 3, 5 and 6 singles positions. Topolyanskiy rounded out the scoring for the Tigers with a three-set win at No. 2 singles.
The Tigers have one week left in the regular season, followed a week of preparation before the NCAC Tournament April 25-26. Wittenberg has five regular season matches remaining, starting with three matches at Wabash over the weekend in the MIAA-NCAC Challenge.