WORCESTER, Mass. -- Senior Ian Tracy (San Jose, Costa Rica) and junior Josh Anshuetz (West Bloomfield, Mich.) were both double-winners to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's tennis team to a 6-3 victory over host Clark University this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference dual match in Worcester, Mass. The Lyons improve to 5-10 overall and 3-3 in NEWMAC play, while the Cougars fall to 3-9 and 1-4.
The victory locks up the number four seed for Wheaton in the NEWMAC Championship Tournament. The Lyons will host the winner of the Clark/Emerson College match on April 23 and will play an opening round match at the Clark Tennis Courts on Wednesday, April 27.
The Lyons got a boost with a sweep of all three doubles matches to take a 3-0 lead into singles play, where Tracy gave Wheaton a 4-0 lead with a win at number one and Anshuetz clinched the victory and the playoff berth with a triumph at second singles. Tracy and Anshuetz were dominant at number one doubles, defeating the Clark pair of junior Dariy Vykhodtsev (Saco, Maine) and sophomore Tanner Honnef (Camarillo, Calif.) by a count of 8-0. Lyon senior Albert Ortega Campos (Malaga, Spain) joined junior Jack Luyrink (Paxton, Mass.) for an 8-4 win at second doubles over the home team's duo of senior Max Schweitzer (West Hartford, Conn.) and junior Sam Pomann (Piermont, N.Y.). Junior Ethan Na (Weatogue, Conn.) and sophomore Elijah Hanlon (Branford, Conn.) completed the Wheaton sweep in doubles action with an 8-4 decision at number three doubles over the first year combo of Ryan Hovey and Aidan Hurtado.
Tracy did not drop a game in the opening set vs. Vykhodtsev, before winning the second frame, 6-3, for the Lyons. Hovey briefly kept the Cougars' hopes alive with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Na at number four singles to give Clark it's first point of the match at 4-1, but Anshuetz put gave the visitors the win with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 effort over Schweitzer to give Wheaton a 5-1 advantage. First year Daniel Bor (Seattle, Wash.) increased the Lyons' margin to 6-1 with a 6-3, 6-3, win at sixth singles over graduate student Josh Podolsky (Sudbury, Mass.).
The Cougars took the final two points of the match at third and fifth singles. Ortega Campos outlasted Honnef in the opening set at number three singles 7-6 (1), but Honnef regrouped and took the second set 6-2, before earning a 10-7 tie-breaker showing to win the match for Clark. Pomann won in straight sets over Wheaton first year Karl von Weissenbeck (Winchester, Mass.) but had to really work for it in the opening set, winning 7-5, before taking the second frame, 6-2.
