TIFFIN, Ohio — The Marietta College men's tennis opened Ohio Athletic Conference play with a 7-2 win at Heidelberg University Friday (March 30) afternoon in the Hemminger Center on the campus of Tiffin University.
The win was Marietta's third in a row as the Pioneers improved to 4-5 on the season and 1-0 in the OAC. Heidelberg falls to 0-12 overall and 0-2 in the OAC.
Heidelberg grabbed the first point of the match when Kyle Alexander and James Vaughan downed
Bryce Emerick (Hyndman, Pa./HOPE for Hyndman Charter) and
Will Watson (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) at No. 2 doubles by the score of 8-5.
Marietta was victorious in the other two doubles matches and took a 2-1 lead into singles. At No. 1,
Shane Spencer (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion) and
Jack Hirschfield (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) were 8-4 winners over Tate Schoen and Claymier. MC's team of
Brandon DeCicco (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg) and
Alex Hogan (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) beat Hunter Bradley and Alex Sprague at No. 3, 8-3.
The Pioneers wrapped up the team win with victories in the first three singles matches to finish. Spencer claimed the decisive fifth point with a three-set thriller against Schoen at No. 1. Schoen took the first set, 6-2, before Spencer bounced back to win the next two sets, 6-0 and 6-4.
At No. 2, Hirschfield defeated Claymier, 6-0 and 6-3, while Watson claimed the No. 3 match over Alexander, 6-3 and 6-0.
Vaughan gave the Student Princes its second team points with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win against Emerick at No. 4 singles.
DeCicco and Hogan grabbed the bottom two singles matches for the Pioneers. DeCicco was a 6-1, 6-1 winner against Bradley at No. 5, while Hogan blanked Sprague at No. 6, 6-0 and 6-0.
Marietta returns home to host Otterbein University on Tuesday (April 3) at 3:30 p.m.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
