The Oglethorpe men's tennis team won the program's first SAA championship Sunday, beating the third-seeded Centre Colonels 5-3 at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to claim a conference tournament title for the first time ever. With the victory, the Stormy Petrels earned the SAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tennis Championships, which will mark the first time they've been to that tournament as a team.
The top-seeded Petrels won four of their five completed singles matches to turn the tables after Centre took two of the three doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead headed into singles competition. Sophomore Vince Claussen scored the championship-clinching point, winning his second-set tiebreak 7-3 to set off the celebration. He won the No. 2 match 6-4, 7-6(3) after falling behind 3-0 in the second set. He went up 5-4 but lost the next two games to fall behind 6-5 and was in danger of being forced to play a third set. However, he won the next game to force the tiebreak, then comfortably won that. He picked up fellow freshman Daniel Cohen, who had championship point up 5-4 in the second set at No. 5. Cohen lost that game and was still tied 5-5 in the second, after winning the first set in an 8-6 tiebreak, when Claussen clinched the dual match.
Centre tied the match 3-3 after a big comeback win in the second at No. 1. Freshman Ameya Dani was down a set, but led 5-2 in the second. His opponent came back to force the tiebreak and won it 8-6, though, taking the match 6-2, 7-6(6). That put the Colonels right back in it after they dropped the first two singles matches, but senior Zoe Raymond restored order and put the Petrels on the brink of clinching the match with a 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 6.
The Petrels got a boost after the doubles setback, getting a 6-1, 6-2 win from senior Walker Benson at No. 3 and a tight 6-4, 6-4 victory from senior Calvin Schneider at No. 4. Those wins vaulted Oglethorpe ahead 3-2.
In doubles, Oglethorpe drew first blood with an 8-5 win from Benson and Schneider at No. 2. However, the Colonels came back to win 8-6 at No. 1 and 8-3 at No. 3 and take a 2-1 lead into singles.
The Petrels now wait to see who they'll face in this year's 37-team NCAA tournament. They'll hold down one of 33 automatic bids and will play in the regional round of the tournament the weekend of May 14-16. They'll find out where they're going and who they're playing when the tournament field is released May 10.
