Season Review: Men's Tennis off to solid start, eyeing OAC Tournament run in 2020 season

By Tim Glon

ADA — Ohio Northern men's tennis coach Mike Bonnell thought his 2020 squad could challenge for the Ohio Athletic Conference title.

After falling 5-4 in the OAC Tournament finals in 2019, Bonnell's squad appeared ready for a run to the crown this spring.

Those thoughts were reaffirmed after the Polar Bears got off to a 6-4 start, including a 6-2 record against NCAA Division III competition, before the Ohio Athletic Conference and the NCAA canceled the season on March 12 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

All four losses were by one court, either 5-4 or 4-3 depending on the scoring format.

"Our season was short, but promise-filled," Bonnell said. "We were gearing up for a run at the OAC Championships title. We were a team without seniors, but were solid top to bottom. Hopefully we can come back in 2021 even stronger."

ONU was led by junior reigning OAC Player of the Year Vinh Thai, who was 5-3 at No. 1 singles against the best competition the opponents had.

Sophomore Andrew Cochran led the Polar Bears with a 9-3 singles record, a 9-4 doubles mark and an 18-7 overall record.

Freshman Gian Perusini (7-2) and junior Hoang Do (7-4) were second on the team with seven singles wins each.

Sophomore Zach Beaschler (9-4) and freshman Matt Garcia (9-6) shared the team-lead with nine doubles wins.

The OAC did not give out All-Conference awards due to the abbreviated season, but junior Joji Imatomi and Cochran did receive Academic All-Conference accolades.

Thai (Feb. 17) and Cochran (Mar. 9) were named OAC Men's Tennis Players of the Week.

Ohio Northern opened its season with a 1-1 record in the fall with a 9-0 victory over Grove City (Pa.) and a 5-4 loss to Allegheny (Pa.) at the Allegheny Invitational in September.

ONU also competed in the Oberlin and ITA Regional individual tournaments in the fall season.

The Polar Bears opened the spring season with a 2-1 record at the Transylvania (Ky.) Invitational on February, defeating LaGrange (Ga.) 7-2 and Transylvania 8-1 and falling to Wittenberg 5-4.

Northern then went 3-2 during its spring break trip to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, which included a 3-0 mark against Division III competition.

The trip started with a 4-3 loss to NAIA foe Midway (Ky.) and a 6-3 win over Concordia (Minn.) on March 2 and was followed with another tight 4-3 loss to Division II Cedarville on March 4.

The Polar Bears ended their trip, and as it turned out their season, with a 9-0 sweep of Wartburg (Iowa) and a 6-3 win over Saint John's (Minn.)

The 6-4 record gave the Polar Bears their third consecutive winning season and a 46-33 overall record in four seasons under Bonnell.