Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's tennis team had a great conference victory against No. 48 Wabash, winning 4-3 on their new outdoor courts. This victory brings the team's record to 10-6 in the season and 2-2 in the NCAC. 

The Crimson and Gold started the dual match with a close doubles round. Doubles partners Max Brose and Oliver Knijnenburg at No. 3 had difficulties getting started, losing their doubles set 6-2. The duo at No. 2, Zain Makada and Sebastien Naginski, found more luck, winning 6-2 and evening the score. The clinch came down to the No. 1 doubles team, Shawn Lisann and Cameron Weiss. Despite Oberlin leading 5-4 on court one, the Wabash team, Augusto Ghidini and Rafael Rin, held serve twice and broke at deuce point, securing the match, 7-5, and the doubles point for Wabash. 

With the 1-0 disadvantage, the rest of the dual match was an uphill battle for the Yeomen. Weiss finished first; this time, the first-year got more than his share of tennis on court five. Weiss went down 4-0 in the first set, taking seven games in a row to come back and eventually win 6-4, 7-5. Classmate, Dash Smith, also brought a high-quality game today, winning in a smooth 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1. 

Building momentum and going up 2-1, the Crimson and Gold began to fight back. Makada came through with a well-deserved win at No. 3. The junior had a back-and-forth duel with his singles opponent, Rin, taking the first set 6-1, dropping the second 6-2, and taking the third set, 6-4, for the match. Enrique Margain came back from a 4-1 deficit and saved a match point down 5-3 to win his first set 7-5. Margain continued to fight through the second set, emerging with a 7-5, 7-5 victory to clinch for the Yeomen on court four.

Seniors Lisann and Naginski found less luck in singles. Though Lisann took the first set 6-0, his opponent at No. 2, Murilo Guarniari, came back and won the second set, 6-1. Both players brought their full efforts into the third set, Lisann searching for opportunities to take the net while Guarniari blasted groundstrokes in attempts to pass the senior. Ultimately, Guarnari won over Lisann 0-6, 6-1, 6-4. Naginski found a similarly difficult match-up. His opponent, Edmon Neto, seemed to have an answer to most of the shots in his repertoire: lobs, drop-shots, and drives. Neto won over Naginski 6-4, 6-3 at No. 6.

After the match, when asked how he made his comeback, Weiss said, "I knew that I had to fight as hard as I could to win that match. I needed to just keep making balls and fight for every point, and that produced a huge comeback win for my team." 

When asked the same question, Margain explained, "I just focused big [on] every single point and forgot about the score for a while, doing that really helped." The sophomore also gave his account of the last point of the match, saying, "I was down 15-40, [my opponent] gave me a couple mistakes, [I] got to deuce, and at that point I remember thinking: just breathe after every ball and compete." 

Tomorrow, April 12, the Yeomen will compete in their third and final dual match of the weekend against Wooster. The on-the-road dual match is expected to begin at 2:30 p.m.

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