CHESTERTOWN, Md. Methodist's men's tennis team traveled north to take on Washington College Saturday morning and came away with a solid 7-2 non-conference victory over the host Shoremen.
The afternoon brought about a mixed-division clash as the Division III Monarchs dropped a 7-0 decision to D-I College of Charleston (CofC) at Washington's Schottland Tennis Center.
THE ESSENTIALS
Final scores: Methodist def. Washington, 7-2; Charleston def. Methodist, 7-0
Records: Methodist 2-3, Washington 0-1, Coll. of Charleston 6-1
Location: Schottland Tennis Center; Chestertown, Md.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Methodist got a rousing start to its day with a sweep of the doubles matches in the early match Saturday.
- Wynn Johnson and Jacob Oehser teamed up for the first win at 2-doubles, followed by Joshua Deutsch's and Hayden Wilfong's victory at No. 3.
- The sweep did not come without extra effort as Coleman Baker and Trent Harner battled Washington's Chris Salisbury and Jake Sandler to a 7-7 tie before the Methodist duo finished off the match and sweep with a 10-8 tiebreak win.
- Baker added the fourth point of the match with a straight-set singles win at No. 3, and Harner provided the clinching point when, up a set, Sandler was forced to retire in the 2-singles bout.
- Both Henry Murray and Oehser added two more singles victories to close out the non-conference triumph.
- The late afternoon match against CofC was played under the D-I format, where the three doubles matches are contested for one point. The Cougars claimed that point with their doubles sweep of the Monarchs' tandems.
- Singles action followed suit, with CofC sweeping all six matches for the shutout victory.
- Harner toyed with an upset at No. 1 singles, falling to the Cougars' Easton Thomas, 6-2, in the opening set before pushing the second set to a tiebreak, in which he finally succumbed to Thomas 7-6 (9-7).
NEXT UP
The Monarchs are off to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for their spring break trip. The venture kicks off with a Wednesday match against St. John Fisher (N.Y.) College at the Chaplin Park Tennis Center.