ARKADELPHIA – It all came down to No. 6 singles to determine a winner between the Ouachita men's tennis team and 18th-ranked Mississippi College on Sunday inside the Ward Tennis Center with the Choctaws coming away with the narrow margin of 4-3.

MC started with three wins in doubles to take a 1-0 lead into singles, which Ouachita started with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 from Phil Exner and Ramon Strassmann, respectively, to take a 2-1 lead.

Exner, ranked second nationally in singles, took down seventh ranked Alex Benichou Blanchard on court one convincingly with a pair of 6-2 victories.

Strassmann also earned a two-set win, as did Buss Moritz Buss on court four to put the Tigers up 3-2 heading into the final two singles matchups.

MC's Rafael Sabio made it 3-3 with a hard-fought two-set win at No. 5 to tie up the match at 3-3, putting all eyes on the No. 6 matchup between Ouachita's Tinus Mueller and Sergio Ramirez Ocana.

Ramirez Ocana needed extra points to win the first set before Mueller equalized with a win in the second to force a winner-take-all tiebreaker set. Ramirez Ocana came out on top 6-4.

The Tigers meet up with No. 2 West Florida in Memphis this Saturday for the team's second straight match against a ranked opponent.

NO. 18 MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 4, OUACHITA 3

DOUBLES
1.     Gustavo Tedesco & Rafael Sabio (MC) def. No. 12 Exner & Strassmann (OUA) 7-6 (7-5)
2.     Benichou Blanchard & Alvaro Saint Martin (MC) def. Yarin Aebi & Aaron Osmond (OUA) 6-3
3.     Florian Walcher & Ramirez Ocana (MC) def. Mueller & Elias Lagger (OUA) 6-3

SINGLES
1.     No. 2 Exner (OUA) def. No. 7 Benichou Blanchard (MC) 6-2, 6-2
2.     Strassmann (OUA) def. Saint Martin (MC) 6-2, 6-4
3.     Walcher (MC) def. Lagger (OUA) 4-6, 6-4, 3-2 ret.
4.     Buss (OUA) def. Tedesco (MC) 6-4, 7-5
5.     Sabio (MC) def. Aebi (OUA) 7-5, 6-2
6.     Ramirez Ocana (MC) def. Mueller (OUA) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4