The Oglethorpe men's tennis team went 1-1 on the third day of their Central Florida spring break trip Tuesday, defeating Cornell College 7-2 in the morning at the Fort Gatlin Recreation Complex in Orlando, Fla., before falling in a tight 5-4 contest to Wabash that evening at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

For the morning match, the Stormy Petrels swept to victories in their first five completed matches, clinching the victory with ease. The three doubles matches went Oglethorpe's way in relatively short order, with junior C.J. Antonio and senior Ben Hirsch dispatching their opponents 8-4 at No. 1 doubles, senior Craig Borne and junior Brition Richardson winning 8-2 at No. 2, and senior Josh Rosenberg and freshman Judd Motz taking the No. 3 match 8-2.

With a 3-0 lead, the Petrels were able to rest some of their stalwarts for the singles portion and still came away with the victory. Motz moved up to the No. 2 slot and made quick work of his opponent there, winning 6-2, 6-1. Then, sophomore Jimmy Nuckolls clinched the dual match at No. 4, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 straight-sets victory. After the match was clinched, sophomore Raines Green fell at No. 5, 6-2, 6-2, and junior Matt Roberson won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6. Hirsch won in a three-set contest with a super-tiebreak at No. 1, 6-3, 5-7, 10-5. Borne was locked in a marathon contest for the morning's final match, getting into a third-set super-tiebreak, as well. He had double match point at 9-7 in the tiebreak and another match point at 11-10, eventually lost 4-6, 6-2, 14-12, but the Petrels had the 7-2 victory.

"It was great to come out and take all three doubles," said Head Coach Peter Howell. "This allowed us to get some guys in the lineup who work hard every day at practice but don't get to play that much. It's nice to get a win after all of these tough losses, as well."

The afternoon-evening match against Wabash was played in blazing hot temperatures, particularly when compared to what the two teams have become accustomed to playing through the waning weeks of winter. The 86-degree starting temperature was by far the warmest weather the team has seen since September and it was their second match of the day. The two teams turned in a marathon match that Wabash just edged out in the end, winning 5-4.

Wabash started by taking two of the three doubles matches, defeating Antonio/Hirsch 8-1 at No. 1 and 8-3 at No. 2. Motz and Rosenberg came back with a big victory at No. 3, though, defeating their opponents 8-4 and making the score 2-1 in favor of Wabash headed into the singles portion.

In singles, Antonio kept up his very impressive level of play for the week, defeating his opponent 6-1, 6-1. Nuckolls lost at No. 6, though, 6-1, 6-1, affected by the heat after his long morning match. This gave Wabash a 3-2 advantage. Two of the remaining Petrels won their first set and two fell in the first set. Borne lost 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4, giving Wabsh a 4-2 lead, but Motz, who lost the first set, rallied to a second-set tiebreak while Hirsch, who won the first set, did the same. Motz eventually fell in the tiebreak at No. 3, losing 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), clinching the match for Wabash. Quickly after that, Hirsch won his second-set tiebreak and his No. 2 match 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3). Richardson closed out the evening with a win for the Petrels, defeating his opponent 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 10-4 at No. 5.

"We played through brutally hot conditions to which both teams were unaccustomed and suffered, especially with it being the second match of the day for both teams," said Head Coach Peter Howell. "It was an exciting college match. We played with a lot of heart, but just came up a bit short."

The 2-4 Petrels will conclude their spring break trip with a match against Lake Forest Wednesday from Lake Cane Tennis Center in Orlando, Fla. After that, they'll have a considerable break before taking on Huntingdon next Sunday at 11:30 a.m. from the Downing Howell Courts.