NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio – After almost a three week hiatus, the Baldwin Wallace University men's tennis team returned to action, dropping its first Ohio Athletic Conference match of the season 5-4 to the University of Mount Union inside North Ridge Tennis and Golf Club.
Mount Union (8-2, 2-0 OAC) led 2-1 after doubles play, marking just the second time all season that the Yellow Jackets (9-2, 0-1 OAC) have trailed heading into singles play. Junior Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar Athletes and All-OAC players Dominic Polifrone (Hudson) and Matt Harris (Akron/Revere) secured BW's only doubles point with an 8-3 victory at No. 1 as the juniors forced their opponents into making a lot of errors, especially at the net.
Singles play proved to be long and grueling as the Yellow Jackets needed to win four of the six matches in order to secure the overall team victory. Harris got singles started on the right foot and tied the match at 2-2 when he battled back for a 3-6, 6-3, 12-10 victory at No. 2 doubles. After the Purple Raiders took the No. 4 singles match for a 3-2 lead, sophomore ITA Scholar Athlete Jake Elbin (Findlay) also needed three sets and extra points in the tiebreaker third set for a 4-6, 6-1, 12-10 win at No. 3 singles. Tied at 3-3, Mount Union then took No. 5 and No. 6 singles to secure the victory while Polifrone finished off the Yellow Jackets points with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles.
BW will battle OAC and crosstown rival John Carroll University on Tuesday, April 3, at 3:30 p.m. on the campus of Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio.