Women Sweep, Men Fall Narrowly as Golden Eagles Split with Oklahoma Wesleyan
SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. (April 8, 2013) - The ladies recorded their first sweep of the season, nabbing all nine matchups while the men fell in a closely-contested tilt with the Eagles, falling by a narrow 5-4 margin today at the JBU Tennis Courts.
In its second victory of the season, the ladies picked up sweeps at the second and sixth slots of singles play as Kellie Mowrer bested Chloe Canfield while Katie Bellinger made quick work of Madison Deck. With the win, Mowrer collected her first win this season in singles play, while Bellinger improved her record at the No. 6 spot to 2-5.
Krizana Saucedo evened her singles record at 4-4 after closing out Holly Schump at the fifth slot, 6-1, 6-0. Leah Engstrom recorded her first win at the top spot, besting OWU’s Breanna Ravenstine, 6-3, 6-1, moving Engstrom to an even 4-4 in one-on-one play. Finally, the Golden Eagles recorded its last two points via pro sets as Tiffany Prieb and Michelle Caneday earned 8-0 and 8-2 victories, respectively. It was Caneday’s first win in singles’ play.
John Brown bolted out to a quick 3-0 lead in the match when Prieb and Mowrer captured an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles while Saucedo and Marissa Podgorski, playing in their first doubles action as a tandem, also secured an 8-3 win at the third spot.
The fiercest matchup of the afternoon came at No. 1 doubles as the duo of Caneday and Engstrom battled with Ravenstine and Roff. JBU fended off a series of deficits before evening the score three times, eventually taking the top slot, 9-7.
The Golden Eagles now move to 2-7 on the season and will face NCAA II Arkansas Tech on Tuesday, April 9, at 2:00 p.m. in Siloam Springs.
On the men’s side, the Golden Eagles enjoyed a 2-0 lead as a result of Oklahoma Wesleyan only fielding five players, mostly due to injuries.
Despite a short squad, OWU featured a talented team as David Aldana and Diego Kalach took down JBU’s Cameron McLendon and Alex Baker at the No. 1 doubles spot, 8-3. John Brown’s Colton Cheek and Blake Zoellner turned in a closer matchup at the second slot and, despite the loss, pushed brothers Joe and Jarrett Deathrage to an 8-6 final.
Kalach took down McLendon in a fantastic matchup at No. 1 singles by a 6-1, 6-0 final that saw numerous, long rallies. Although ultimately falling 6-3, 6-4, Baker followed up McLendon’s performance with an exemplary showing of his own, notching his second-best showing of the season.
Two Golden Eagles captured victories in singles’ play as Brandon Laney picked up his first win at No. 3, bringing his overall singles’ record to 3-5, as he downed Joe Deathrage, 6-2, 6-4. Cheek evened his record at No. 5 singles at 2-2 as he made quick work of Jarrett Deathrage, 6-0, 6-2.
Despite the two-point advantage to start the match, Oklahoma Wesleyan nabbed five of the seven matchups actually played to claim a 5-4 final victory. With the loss, the Golden Eagles remain in search of its first victory of the season, falling to 0-9.
John Brown will return to the courts on Monday, April 15, when both squads travel to Bartlesville, Okla., for a rematch with Oklahoma Wesleyan.
