Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's tennis team played its first dual match of the season, dropping a 9-0 affair to Division II Walsh University on Wednesday afternoon at the Don Hunsinger Courts.
 
"We knew going in this was going to be a challenge for us, but I was happy with the way we grinded out there and put together a handful of close results that just didn't go our way," Head Coach Eric Ishida said.
 
The Cavaliers swept through doubles with the closest battle coming in the top flight where
James Dill and Sean Billerbeck ultimately fell to Jakob Riglewski and Alex M. Puigmarti by an 8-5 count.
 
Billerbeck and Riglewski also squared off in the lead singles slot where the Yeomen ace dropped the first set 6-3, before nearly forcing a tiebreak in a 7-5 setback.
 
At No. 2, Dill was a 6-2 loser in the first against Luis Hernandez Ceballos but he would fight back in the second set to force a tiebreak before Ceballos was able to stave off an extra set with a 7-6 (7-5) win.
 
The tightest singles bout came in the fourth flight where Rohan Gold and Blas Ruiz went swing-for-swing but in the end, it was Ruiz who gutted out a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) triumph.
 
The Yeomen are back in action this weekend as the head to the ITA Central Regionals on the campus of Kalamazoo College.