MASON, Ohio – The second-seeded Baldwin Wallace University men's tennis team's bid for its fifth Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Championship fell short as it was defeated by top-seeded and cross-town rival John Carroll University by a final score of 5-3 at the Linder Family Tennis Center.
In the OAC Tournament, all matches are ended when the winning team reaches five team points regardless of the current progress of other matches still on court. Each match will start with the three doubles matches and will continue with singles action until the winning five points are obtained.
BW (24-5), who last won the OAC Championship in 2012, will now have to wait and see if it receives an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III National Tournament. John Carroll (14-7) won its second straight OAC Championship and receives an automatic bid into the national tournament.
In doubles, the Blue Streaks claimed the first point of the match at third doubles. The Yellow Jackets evened the match at 1-1 when the duo of senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC player Kyle Patterson (Wooster/Triway) and freshman Dominic Polifrone (Hudson) won at second doubles by a score of 8-5 and are now 24-7 on the season. BW took a 2-1 lead when the tandem of senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC standout Peter Harris (Akron/Revere) and senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC Doug Ganim (Westerville/Olentangy Orange) earned a hard fought victory at first doubles by a score of 9-8 and 7-1 in the tiebreaker and won 11 of the last 12 points. Harris and Ganim improved to 24-8 on the year and 89-26 in their career as partners.
In singles, John Carroll tied the match at 2-2 as it won fifth singles. The Yellow Jackets picked up their third point as Patterson won at third singles by scores of 7-5 and 6-2 to improve to 30-2 this season and is third all-time in BW history with a record of 96-19. The Blue Streaks won second singles to tie the match at 3-3. John Carroll won the match as it claimed first and sixth singles for the final points. Polifrone's match at fourth singles was still on the court when the match was finalized.
The NCAA Division III Tournament begins on Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14 with first and second round matches.