Tigers Pull Out 5-4 Win Over Gators To Open NCAC Tournament
Fifth-seeded Wittenberg slid past fourth-seeded Allegheny by the most narrow of margins to reach tournament semifinals.
OBERLIN, Ohio - The Wittenberg men's tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the 2013 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament with a hard-fought 5-4 victory over Allegheny.
The win earned the Tigers, seeded fifth, a shot at top-seeded Kenyon, which has been ranked in the top five nationally all year. Wittenberg brings a 16-6 overall record into the match, which will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday, also at Oberlin College.
Allegheny, seeded No. 5, fell to 14-3 overall in the 2012-13 season and was relegated to the consolation portion of the bracket.
Wittenberg started out with a 2-1 advantage in doubles after the pairing of freshman Stas Pakhomov (Richmond, British Columbia/Sir Winston Churchill) and junior Tyler Strong (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) picked up a narrow 9-7 win at No. 2 and the tandem of sophomore Ian Streicker (South Lebanon, Ohio/Loveland) and junior Joe Marra (Great Falls, Mont./Great Falls) won at No. 3.
In singles, the Tigers captured the team victory with wins at the No. 3, 4 and 5 positions. Sophomore Sasha Topolyanskiy (Moscow, Russia) was a winner at No. 3, sophomore Alexey Topolyanskiy (Moscow, Russia) claimed the victory at No. 4, and junior Sam Wilke (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) rounded things out with a 7-5, 6-1 decision at No. 5.