Season Review: Men's Tennis posts most wins in five seasons, takes positive step forward in 2017-18
By Caleb Scott
ADA — The 2017-18 season proved to be a season of growth for the Ohio Northern men's tennis team as it took a big step forward under the direction of second-year head coach Mike Bonnell.
The Polar Bears finished the season with a 15-9 record, its first winning season since the 2013-14 season and the most wins the program has posted since the 2012-13 season.
ONU also finished in third in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 6-2 mark, the highest it has finished in the OAC since 2012-13.
The freshmen duo of Vinh Thai (Galloway/Saint Charles) and Hoang Do (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) were named All-Ohio Athletic Conference in 2017-18.
Thai was named to the First Team, while Do was a Second Team selection.
Thai posted a 13-10 singles record playing exclusively at the No. 1 spot, while Do was 13-9 primarily at No. 2 singles.
The duo also combined to go 16-10 at No. 1 doubles for the Polar Bears.
Do (29-19) and Thai (29-20) led Ohio Northern with 29 victories overall.
Juniors Jake Abbott (Kenton) and Tim Kargl (Downers Grove, Ill./South) and sophomore Connor Christian (Gallipolis/Gallia Academy) were named Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Abbott is now a two-time Academic All-Conference honoree and is majoring in pharmacy.
He is a three-year starter and will enter his senior season with a 29 singles wins, a 31 doubles wins and 63 victories overall.
This season, Abbott was 12-7 in singles play, 16-5 in doubles action and was 28-12 overall.
Kargl is also an Honorable Mention All-OAC award winner and is majoring in civil engineering.
This season, Kargl was 11-12 in singles, 13-13 in doubles and 24-25 overall.
In his three seasons as a Polar Bear, Kargl has 29 singles wins, 34 doubles wins and 57 victories overall.
Christian is in his first season on the ONU men's tennis team and is a business management major.
He posted a 10-16 singles record, an 18-8 doubles mark and a 28-24 overall record this season.
After a short fall season that featured competition at the Oberlin Tournament and the ITA Regionals, Northern entered 2018 looking to gets its season started on the right foot.
The Polar Bears wasted no time and made short work of Albion (Mich.) and Olivet (Mich.), winning 7-2 and 9-0, respectively to start the season 2-0.
Following a tight 5-4 loss to Franciscan, ONU picked up victories in four of its next five matches, including victories over Washington & Jefferson (Pa.), Penn St.-Behrend, Penn St.-Harrisburg, and Catholic (D.C.).
Northern would drop three of its final four matches in March, opening up OAC play with a 9-0 victory over Heidelberg.
A 7-3 record in April clinched the No. 3 seed in the OAC Tournament for the Polar Bears, its highest seeding since the 2012-13 season.
ONU would defeat No. 6-seeded Capital in the quarterfinal round of the OAC Tournament before bowing out after falling 5-1 to No. 2-seeded Mount Union.
The Polar Bears were 15-9 overall, finished third in the OAC regular season standings with a 6-2 mark and reached the semifinals of the OAC Tournament under second-year head coach Michael Bonnell.