Tigers Rally Past IU-East With Clutch Singles Victories
After falling behind in the doubles competition, Wittenberg delivers four singles wins to take the match 5-4.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers pulled out a 5-4 victory over Indiana University-East in their 2015-16 season home opener, thanks to a narrow victory at No. 6 singles by freshman Alex Sarihan (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh).
The win improved the Tigers to 2-0 in match play on the 2015-16 season. Wittenberg will close the fall portion of the 2015-16 season with a road trip to Oberlin on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Wittenberg fell behind in doubles, as freshman Matt Arroyo (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) teamed with senior Dennis Gleason (Gahanna, Ohio/St. Charles) for the Tigers' lone point at the No. 1 position. IU-East pulled out narrow victories on the second and third courts to take momentum into the singles battles.
The Tigers rallied, however, starting at the top of the lineup with Arroyo and a 6-3, 6-1 decision at No. 1 singles. Freshman Santiago Vasconez (Ambato, Ecuador) and freshman Caleb Astwood (Sussex, NJ/Laurel Springs) followed suit at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, but Wittenberg still needed one more point to secure the victory.
That's where Sarihan came up big as he claimed a first set tiebreaker and then brought it home from there to win the second set 6-2 and the match at No. 6 singles. It was Sarihan's first appearance in match play for the Red & White.
Written By: Ryan Maurer