Wills nets 100th win as Women's Tennis kicks off Spring Break trip with 8-1 victory at Cypress (Calif.) CC and 5-4 loss at Occidental (Calif.)
By Blake Moore
CYPRESS & GLENDALE, Calif. — Junior Mackenzie Wills (Ada) reached the 100-win plateau with a 4-0 record, leading the Ohio Northern women's tennis squad as it opened its 2019 Spring Break trip to the Los Angeles metropolitan area on Monday with an 8-1 victory at Cypress (Calif.) Community College and a tight 5-4 loss at NCAA Division III foe Occidental (Calif.)
The Polar Bears improve to 6-1 on the season, while Cypress falls to 0-7 overall and Occidental improves to 2-4.
Wills went 2-0 in singles and doubles and now has a career record of 103-38, making her the newest member of ONU's 100-Win Club.
Senior Ashley Ochsenhirt (Birmingham, Ala./Briarwood Christian) also went 4-0 on the day for ONU.
In the day's opening match, Northern swept all six singles slots and claimed two of the three doubles matches to roll past Cypress 8-1.
Junior Katie Curry (Oxford/Talawanda) led the Polar Bears with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph in the No. 5 slot.
Meanwhile, classmates Jordan Dodson (Worthington) and Wills picked up 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-2 victories at No. 6 and No. 4 singles, respectively.
Ochsenhirt won 7-6(5), 6-0 at No. 1 singles, freshman Olivia Schrager (Dayton/Miami Valley) won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and freshman Abigail Staskiewicz (Mars, Pa./Oakland Catholic) won 3-6, 6-4, 10-4 at No. 3 to complete the singles sweep for ONU.
In doubles play, Wills and Ochsenhirt secured an 8-0 victory on the No. 2 court while Curry and sophomore Macey Camacho (Hartville/Lake) won with a similar score in the No. 3 slot.
Against the Tigers, Ochsenhirt and Wills won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles for the Polar Bears' lone doubles point.
The teams split the six singles matches, with host Occidental edging Ohio Northern 5-4.
OC won at Nos. 2 and 3 singles to go ahead 4-1, but ONU rallied with wins by Curry at No. 5 (6-2, 6-1) and Wills at No. 6 (6-3, 6-2) to pull within 4-3.
But the hosts clinched the match with a win at No. 4 singles.
Ochsenhirt wrapped up the match with a tight 7-6(4), 7-6(3) win at No. 1.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Tuesday when they continue their spring break trip with a 4 pm (EDT) match at Cal Lutheran.