The Oglethorpe men's tennis team opened their season with a victory Saturday morning against the LaGrange Panthers. They saw their second match of the day against Covenant suspended due to wet courts on Lookout Mountain with the Stormy Petrels well on their way to victory. Overall, though, it was a successful opening day for the Petrels.

The Petrels earned a clean 9-0 sweep at LaGrange in the morning. Freshmen Vince Claussen and Daniel Cohen won a tight match out of the second doubles slot, outlasting their Panther opponents 7-2 in a tiebreaker. Seniors Walker Benson and Calvin Schneider also found themselves locked in a battle in the top-line doubles match, but won 8-6. Freshman Ameya Dani and senior Zoe Raymond swept their opponents 8-0 at No. 3.

The Petrels made quick work of their opponents in singles play. Benson drew the toughest match at No. 1 singles, but earned a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Schneider came through 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4. Dani won 6-1, 6-2; Claussen won 6-3, 6-1; Cohen won 6-0, 6-3; and freshman Cameron Burkes earned a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

In the nightcap, the Petrels got off to a good start on Lookout Mountain, defeating the homestanding Scots in two out of the three doubles matches. Benson and Schneider took the topline match 8-6 while Dani and Raymond won 8-5 at No. 3. Dani won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles to make the score 3-1 in favor of Oglethorpe, but that was the last match to be completed as a thick fog rolled in and made the courts too slick to play on. Amid the unfinished singles matches, Benson was up a set and a break at No. 1 and Claussen was up a set at No. 3. Schneider also led 4-1 in the first set of his match at No. 4. Wins in just two of those matches or the remaining two matches that had not started yet would've been enough for the Petrels to claim victory. 

With a 1-0 record, the Petrels now head into SAA play. They'll take on Centre Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m. from the Howell Courts.