Men’s Tennis falls to #2 Case Western Reserve in Second Round of NCAA III Tournament
By Wes Mayberry
CLEVELAND — The Ohio Northern men's tennis team's record-setting 2022 season came to an end with a 5-0 loss to No. 2 Case Western Reserve in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday morning at Carlton Courts.
Finishing with a record of 23-5, the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament champion Polar Bears set the program record for wins in a season, besting the previous mark of 20 that was set in 2010.
The Spartans improve to 22-4 on the season and advance to Sunday's Third Round match against the winner of Saturday's other Second Round Match between Kalamazoo (Mich.) and No. 39 Wisconsin-Whitewater.
CWRU started Saturday's match by sweeping all three doubles courts.
For ONU, fifth-year senior Vinh Thai (Galloway/St. Charles) and junior Matt Garcia (Downers Grove, Ill./South) fell 8-3 at No. 1 doubles, senior Andrew Cochran (Wooster) and freshman Peyton Specht (Munster, Ind.) fell 8-1 at No. 2 doubles, and senior Zach Beaschler (Ada) and freshman Drew Swisher (Findlay) fell 8-0 at No. 3 doubles.
Thai ends the year with a career record of 108-68.
The Polar Bears continued to battle in singles play, but the Spartans came away with the 5-0 victory.
CWRU's Ansh Shah defeated ONU freshman Sam Sran (PB, India/St. Stephens and Gian Jyoti Global) 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, and Chaitanya Aduru won 6-2, 6-0 over freshman Tristan Munteanu (Draper, Utah/Corner Canyon) at No. 5 singles to clinch the match.
"We battled on every court today and looked the part of being in the final 32 of the NCAA Tournament," ONU head coach Mike Bonnell said. "This is where we want to get back to every year."
