Scots Edge Ohio Northern 5-4 for Second Year In a Row

Grant D'Augustine

Keyed by two three-set singles victories, The College of Wooster edged past Ohio Northern University 5-4 in a non-conference men’s tennis match-up held Thursday at the Wooster Racquet & Fitness Club. It marks the second consecutive season the teams’ contest has ended in a 5-4 Fighting Scot win.

Wooster (5-5) had to make a comeback, as it fell behind 2-1 during the doubles action. The Scots’ lone point there came from Rob Ashmead and Andrew Garnett at the No. 3 position (8-5).

In singles play, Ohio Northern (6-4), the defending Ohio Athletic Conference champions, had convincing wins at No. 1 (6-3, 6-2) and No. 4 (6-2, 6-0), but Wooster countered with easy triumphs by Ethan Arenstein at No. 5 (6-2, 6-1) and Chris Collen at No. 6 (6-2, 6-3).

The second and third singles matches each split their opening two sets. At No. 2, Grant D’Augustine lost the first 6-3 to the Polar Bears’ Bart Schenck, but pulled through for hard-fought second- and third-set wins of 7-5 and 6-3. The Scots’ Pat Grab and Ryan Paul battled it out at No. 3, with Grab prevailing in the first 6-4 and then dropping a tough 7-5 decision in the second. Then, Grab bolted out to a 4-0 lead in the third and ended up earning a default victory as Paul was injured.

Wooster will next be in action Tuesday when North Coast Athletic Conference foe Oberlin College (6-5, 2-0 NCAC) comes to town for a 4 p.m. match-up.