ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University men's tennis team is headed to the nationals round of the NCAA Division II championships following a 4-3 win over Washburn on Monday at home in the regional round.
The 16-team nationals bracket will be held May 18-22 in Altamonte Springs, Florida hosted by Rollins College and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission.
Monday's match against Washburn was back-and-forth from start to finish. The point in doubles needed a 14-12 tiebreaker win in first position by
Phil Exner and
Alex Blanchar. The Ichabods (17-6) won third position doubles first 6-4, and then the Tigers (18-3) evened it up with a 6-4 win in second position by
Santiago Kearney and
Francisco Oliveira.
At the end of singles, all eyes ended up on court two with the match tied at 3-3. Kearney and Washburn's Miquel Perez exchanged wins in the first two sets, and it was Kearney coming away with a 7-5 win in the final set to clinch the match and the program's 12th appearance in the round of 16.
Ouachita's Blanchar was the first singles player to earn a point, taking down Washburn's Sebastian Pjontek in fourth position by scores of 6-3 and 6-0.
WU's Tim Hammes earned the next point in third position singles to cut Ouachita's overall match lead in half at 2-1. The Ichabods evened things up at 2-2 with a win in sixth position.
Francisco Oliveira put the Tigers back on top 3-2 with a 7-5, 6-2 win in first position. Washburn's Daniel Bird evened it back up at 3-3 with a three-set win in fifth position, setting up Kearney and Perez for the deciding point.
Doubles
- Exner & Blanchar (OUA) def. Matthew Earle & Sebastian Pjontek (WU) 7-6 (12)
- Kearney & Oliveira (OUA) def. Raul-Alin Dicu & Noah Neideck (WU) 6-4
- Perez & Santiago Rendon (WU) def. Fernando Docters & Tobias Fuerschuss (OUA) 6-4
Order of Finish: 3,2,1
Singles
- Oliveira (OUA) def. Dicu (WU) 7-5, 6-2
- Kearney (OUA) def. Perez (WU) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
- Hammes (WU) def. Docters (OUA) 6-2, 6-3
- Blanchar (OUA) def. Pjontek (WU) 6-3, 6-0
- Bird (WU) def. Fuerschuss (OUA) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
- Rendon (WU) def. Exner (OUA) 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish:4,3,6,1,5,2
