EDMOND, Oklahoma – The Ouachita men's tennis team opened the 2024 postseason on Wednesday with a 4-0 sweep over Nebraska Kearney in the opening round of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association/Great American Conference Championship Tournament.
The Tigers (13-6) are now set to take on ninth-ranked Washburn on Thursday in the tournament semifinals. First serve is set for 10 a.m. in Edmond. Washburn had a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed from the MIAA/GAC North Division.
Wednesday's match against UNK started with doubles wins in first and second positions to take the early 1-0 lead, including a ranked-vs.-ranked battle on court one between Ouachita Phil Exner and Alex Blanchar, ranked No. 5 nationally, and UNK's Tom Van Den Dungen and A. Osmond, ranked No. 11. Exner and Blanchar came out on top 6-3.
In singles, the Tigers earned two-set wins in first, second, and fifth positions to sweep the match. Exner had a dominating win on court two with a pair of 6-1 scores. After a close battle in the first set, Moritz Buss came away with a clean 6-0 victory in the second set on court five.
NO. 29 OUACHITA 4, NEBRASKA KEARNEY 0
DOUBLES
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No. 5 Exner/Blanchar (OUA) def. No. 11 Van Den Dungen/Osmond (UNK) 6-3
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Ramon Strassman/Aaron Osmond (OUA) def. Jip Mens/Ahmed Abdelaziz (UNK) 6-1
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Elias Lagger/Fernando Docters (OUA) vs. Andy Brisdon/Jakub Strzelecki (UNK) 4-5 did not finish
SINGLES
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No. 12 Blanchar (OUA) def. Mens (UNK) 6-3, 6-2
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No. 18 Exner (OUA) def. Osmond (UNK) 6-1, 6-1
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No. 64 Docters (OUA) vs. Van Den Dungen (UNK) 7-6 (7-4), 3-2 did not finish
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Strassmann (OUA) vs. Strzelecki (UNK) 6-4, 4-1 did not finish
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Buss (OUA) def. Abdelaziz (UNK) 7-5, 6-0
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Osmond (OUA) vs. Brisdon (UNK) 6-7 (4-7), 1-2 did not finish
