NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Baldwin Wallace University men's tennis won its fourth straight dual match as it earned a 9-0 non-conference shutout victory versus Westminster (Pa.) College.
BW (15-1) also won its fourth match against an opponent from the State of Pennsylvania and earned its 10th shutout of the season. The Yellow Jackets have outscored the opposition 130-14 this season and have been dominant in every match but one. In addition, 27th-year Head Coach Brian Rector improved his career mark to 486-96 overall and three of his student-athletes continue to move up on the school's all-time singles and doubles victory lists.
The Yellow Jackets won all three doubles matches to take the early, 3-0 lead. Senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference standout Peter Harris (Akron/ Richfield Revere), who is this week's OAC Men's Tennis Player-of-the-Week, and senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC player Doug Ganim (Westerville/ Olentangy Orange) improved to 16-3 at first doubles with an 8-1 victory. Peter Harris and Ganim, who have combined in doubles for four straight seasons, improved to 82-21 as a teandem and rank fifth all-time with 82 wins.
In addition in doubles, senior Kevin Fredrick (Archbold) and freshman Matt Harris (Akron/ Richfield Revere) won second doubles by a score of 8-1 to improve to 9-3 this season. Junior Nathan Katz (Upper Arlington/ Bexley) and junior Jake Liebler (Medina) captured third doubles by a score of 8-0 to improve to 6-3 this season.
In singles action, the Yellow Jackets let Peter Harris, the usual No.1 player, and Ganim, the usual No.2 player, rest and still won all six matches to secure the shutout. Senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC player Kyle Patterson (Wooster/ Triway) won at first singles by scores of 6-0 and 6-1 to remain undefeated this season at 17-0, including 15-0 at No.3. Patterson's win was the 81st singles victory of his career and now ties him with Sam Burris (2007-2011) for fifth all-time. Patterson is 81-16 for his career.
In addition in singles play, freshman Dominic Polifrone (Hudson) remained undefeated with a record of 18-0 as he posted a 6-2 and 6-1 victory at number two. Junior Brian Carano (Akron/Revere) took third singles by scores of 6-2 and 6-0 to improve to 10-3 on the year. Freshman Matthew Harris (Akron/Revere) won fourth singles by identical scores of 6-0 to improve to 5-0 this year. Junior Brandon Caynor (Norton) improved to 2-2 on the season with a victory at fifth singles by identical scores of 6-0. Freshman Roger Boyer (Brunswick) upped his record to 3-1 this year with a win at sixth singles by identical scores of 6-0.
BW is back in action on Friday, March 25 when it plays the first outdoor match of the season and opens OAC action against the University of Mount Union on the Pop Collins Tennis Courts in Berea at 1 p.m.
