Men’s Tennis defeats Grove City (Pa.) 5-0 in First Round of NCAA III Tournament
By Wes Mayberry
CLEVELAND — The Ohio Northern men's tennis team defeated Grove City (Pa.) 5-0 on Friday morning in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Carlton Courts on the campus of Case Western Reserve University.
The Polar Bears (23-4 overall) added to their school-record mark for wins in a season in getting their first NCAA Tournament victory since their last appearance in the event in 2013 when they got a 5-0 First Round win over Concordia (Wis.).
The victory advances Northern to face No. 2 Case Western Reserve in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Carlton Courts.
The Wolverines, the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament champions, end their season with a record of 16-3.
The Polar Bears swept all three doubles courts to begin Friday's match.
Fifth-year senior Vinh Thai (Galloway/St. Charles) and junior Matt Garcia (Downers Grove, Ill./South) won 8-4 at No. 1 doubles, freshman Peyton Specht (Munster, Ind.) and senior Andrew Cochran (Wooster) won 8-6 at No. 2 doubles, and senior Zach Beaschler (Ada) and freshman Drew Swisher (Findlay) won 8-5 at No. 3 doubles.
Beaschler gave Northern its fourth point with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles.
Specht closed out the Polar Bear victory with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles.
At the time the match was called, Cochran was leading 6-0, 3-4 at No. 1 singles, Thai was leading 6-4, 1-1 at No. 2 singles, freshman Sam Sran (PB, India/St. Stephens and Gian Jyoti Global) was leading 6-4, 1-2 at No. 3 singles, and freshman Tristan Munteanu (Draper, Utah/Corner Canyon) was leading 6-1, 1-2 at No. 5 singles.
"It was an awesome day of tennis. The guys responded to the pressure well and fought through a tough opponent, and we're savoring the moment of our first NCAA Tournament win in years. I'm happy for the seniors to be going out like this," ONU head coach Mike Bonnell said. "Tomorrow will be an unbelievable challenge against the No. 2 team in the country, and the guys are looking forward to that challenge as well."
