Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's tennis team hosted Findlay and Case Western on Saturday, dropping both ends of the twin bill. The Yeomen were edged by the Oilers 5-4 and suffered a 9-0 setback against the Spartans.
 
"It was another challenging day for us, but that is a good thing this time of year," Head Coach Eric Ishida said. "We certainly would have liked to pull out the win against Findlay but our guys battled and that's all I can ask for."
 
Findlay Recap
Oberlin carried a 2-1 lead into singles play after winning at the top two doubles flights. In the lead spot, James Dill and Sean Billerbeck bested Wilfredo Lara and Mark Ivanov by an 8-5 count. Sam Topper and Rohan Gold followed with an 8-6 triumph over Andrew Codita and Ethan Shoesmith.
 
The singles action was nip-and-tuck throughout with two three-set matches and three tiebreak sets taking place.
 
In the top position, Billerbeck went the distance with Ivanov, winning the first set 6-3 before dropping the second 6-4.  In the decisive third set, the Yeomen ace was upended 10-3.
 
Gold delivered the easiest Oberlin win at No. 4 singles as he set aside Octavio Carrasco 6-4, 6-2.
 
The Yeomen picked up their second singles win in the fifth slot as first-year Sebastien Naginski gutted out a pair of tiebreak wins 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (11-9) over Shoesmith.
 
The No. 2 battle was also tightly contested as Topper finished on the wrong end of a 7-6 (7-5) decision in set one before winning the second 6-2. However, the super-breaker went Codita's way 10-5.
 
Case Recap
The top doubles battle went to a tiebreak as Billerbeck and Dill gave Narang, Yuvraj and Dayal, Sahil all they could handle before succumbing 8-7 (7-3).
 
Billerbeck also had a tight set at No. 1 singles, losing the first 7-6 (7-3) before falling 6-1 in the second.
 
Topper and Casey Hishinuma also had a close first set in the third position, falling 7-5, 6-3.
 
Oberlin will return to action this spring.