The Oglethorpe men's tennis team lost a tough match to No. 28 Sewanee on Saturday, falling 6-3 at the end of the day in a hard-fought match after the Stormy Petrels fell in all three doubles contests.. The team put together a great effort in singles, though, including junior C.J. Antonio picking up his biggest win of the season so far, a three-set victory over Atlantic South No. 6 Avery Schober.
Antonio claimed the victory in an extremely hard fought match against Schober, who is ranked sixth in the region. Antonio come out of the gate blazing, winning the first set 6-0. Schober tied the match at one set apiece, though, as he steadied himself in the second and got up 5-2. Antonio was able to win two games in a row, including breaking Schober's serve to have a chance at serving to tie the set up, 5-4. However, Schober was able to earn another break and win the second, 6-4. Due to ranking implications, a third set was played out despite the dual match already having been decided in Sewanee's favor. Antonio currently sits at 13th in the Atlantic South and the top eight ranked singles players in the region automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III Tennis Championships. Antonio came out roaring again in the third set. He got ahead two breaks and took a 4-0 lead and never let up after that, pulling away to a 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 upset victory.
Senior Kirk Zhao fell in the No. spot, losing to Eric Roddy 6-2, 6-1. Senior Ben Hirsch was defeated 6-4, 6-2 in his match with Rand Jackson at No. 3 and sophomore Jimmy Nuckolls lost to Alex Cooper in the No. 6 spot, falling to his opponent 6-0, 6-3. However, Oglethorpe collected two more wins as freshman Judd Motz, playing in the No. 4 spot, won his match against Connor Winkler. Motz lost the first set 6-0 but battled back to win the second set 7-5 before grinding it out in the third to win the set in an 11-9 super-tiebreak and win the match. Junor Briton Richardson won in the No. 5 spot, defeating Scott Gallimore 7-5, 6-1.
Things did not go as well in the three doubles matches for the Petrels, though. No. 1 doubles team Antonio/Hirsch had a strong match before falling to Eric Roddy and Alex Cooper in a tight 8-6 affair. Senior Craig Borne and Richardson were shut out by the No. 2 doubles team consisting of Schober and Davis Owen, losing 8-0. Meanwhile, Motz and senior Josh Rosenberg fell 8-3 in a match with Winkler and Jackson. The wins in doubles for the Tigers gave them a 3-0 lead going into singles play.
"Sewanee is a very tough team, solid all the way down the lineup," said Head Coach Peter Howell. "We put ourselves in a hole with the doubles, but I was proud of the way we fought back winning three singles matches. Judd Motz showed great heart coming back from 0-6 in his match to win. This was a terrific win for C.J., as well. He has worked so hard on his conditioning, footwork and mental attitude and it all paid off today. This was big for him!"
The loss brings Oglethorpe to 8-8 for the season and 3-3 in the conference. The team will travel to Danville, Ky., Sunday morning to play Centre at 9 a.m. before coming home to play their final match of the regular season against Oxford on the Downing Howell Courts. That match will be next Saturday at 10 a.m.
