Women's Tennis rallies for late-night victory over Otterbein, 5-4
By Tim Glon
LIMA -- The Ohio Northern women's tennis team battled into the late hours of the evening before pulling out a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Otterbein in a battle of league unbeatens Wednesday evening at the Westwood Tennis & Fitness Center.
The Polar Bears improve to 15-4 overall and move into first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 5-0 record, while the Cardinals fall to 13-4, 5-1.
The match was moved indoors due to inclement weather and was pushed back to an 8:15 pm start time due to court availability at ONU's indoor home courts in Lima.
The two squads then played for 3 hours and 52 minutes before the match ended at 12:07 am.
OU took a 2-1 lead after doubles, but ONU rallied to win four of the six singles matches to take the victory.
Junior Ashley Ochsenhirt (Birmingham, Ala./Brianwood Christian) and sophomore Katie Curry (Oxford/Talawanda) scored ONU's double point with a 9-7 victory at the No. 3 spot.
Otterbein won at No. 4 singles to go up 3-1, but the Polar Bears got a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles from freshman Sabine Worthoff (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) and a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles from senior Lynn Kelly (Mason) to tie it at 3-3.
Sophomore Mackenzie Wills (Ada) then gave ONU a 4-3 lead with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles.
Ochsenhirt then clinched the match with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles.
The Polar Bears will return to action this weekend with matches against Muskingum, Marietta and Wittenberg at the OAC Tennis Fest at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason.
