NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's tennis team battled its way back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the match at 4-4, before succumbing to visiting Stonehill College, 5-4, today at Clark Tennis Courts in Norton, Mass. The Lyons fall to 0-3 on the season, while the Skyhawks improve to a perfect 4-0.
Junior Luke Nickerson (Mansfield, Mass.) clinched a 5-4 victory for Stonehill with a three-set victory at fifth singles. Nickerson won the opening set over Wheaton first year Karl von Weissenbeck (Winchester, Mass.), 6-4, but dropped the second frame by the same score to set up a third set that would determine the dual match, which was tied at 4-4. von Weissenbeck, who moved up a spot in the lineup, took an early 2-1 lead in the third set, but Nickerson won the final five games to take the set, 6-2, and the match to give the visitors the win.
Stonehill won four of the first five matches to take a 4-1 lead, before the Lyons clawed their way back to a tie with wins at first, second and third singles.
Wheaton senior Ian Tracy (San Jose, Costa Rica) won in straight sets at first singles, 6-3, 6-3, over Skyhawks first year Guillaume Duhil de Bénazé (Paris, France) to pull the home team to within 4-2. Junior Josh Anshuetz (West Bloomfield, Mich.) followed his doubles partner with a 6-3, 6-4 showing at number two singles over junior Christian Duffy (Dublin, Ireland) to keep the Lyons' momentum going. Senior Albert Ortega Campos (Malaga, Spain) battled in the first set for Wheaton at number three singles, but fifth-year senior Trent Newman (Old Greenwich, Conn.) gutted out a 7-6 (6) first set win. Ortega Campos regrouped and took advantage of a hampered Newman, winning the next two sets handily, 6-0, 6-1 to pull the Lyons even at 4-4 to set up the final match.
Duhil de Bénazé teamed with sophomore Louis Coppi (Paris, France) to earn an 8-2 win at second doubles over the Wheaton due of Ortega Campos and junior Jack Luyrink (Paxton, Mass.) to open the scoring. Tracy and Anschuetz evened the match for the Lyons with an 8-3 triumph at number one doubles over Duffy and junior Ben Simmons (North Attleboro, Mass.), before Newman combined with senior Juan Camilo Riano Rojas (Bogotá, Columbia) to capture an 8-6 decision over Wheaton junior Ethan Na (Weatogue, Conn.) and sophomore Elijah Hanlon (Branford, Conn.) to take a 2-1 edge after doubles play.
Simmons and Coppi won their singles matches at number six and four, respectively, to put Stonehill on the brink of victory with a 4-1 margin. Simmons dropped just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 win over Luyrink, while Coppi cruised in the first set over Na, 6-0, before taking the second frame, 6-3.
The Lyons are off until their regular spring season when they host Endicott College on Saturday, February 26, while the Skyhawks continue their season during the spring as well.
