The men’s tennis team continues to stay hot, winning its third match in four days last weekend. Otterbein was its opponent Saturday, Feb. 24, and the match opened with a tight set of doubles. Juniors Chris Pray and Colin Burling played at the one and pulled out a close win of 9-7 in the breaker. They were followed by junior Ezra Goldman and sophomore David Midler, who pulled out a win of 8-4 in the two. Senior Arthur Zeyda and junior Tom Page came in at the three but lost 5-8.

Singles opened with Pray at the one. He made quick work of his opponent by winning straight sets of 6-2. Midler came in at the two and played a strong match as well, winning both sets, 6-3 and 6-1. Zeyda occupied the three spot, playing an amazing match that saw him win the first set 6-4 and his second 6-2. They were his first wins of the season. Goldman continued the momentum as he won straight sets of 6-3 at the four. The seventh win came from Burling playing a close match at the five. After winning the first set easily at 6-2, Burling’s second set ended in a lost tie-breaker that sent the match into superbreak status. Burling pulled through with a win of 10-6. Sophomore Benjamin Crystal had the final match at the six but lost 1-6 and 4-6. Oberlin defeated Otterbein by a final score of 7-2.

The team started the conference season at Wittenberg on Sunday with Pray and Burling opening up the doubles competition once more. They scored a fairly easy win of 8-3 followed by Midler and Goldman who won 8-2 at the two spot. The three spot went to Wittenberg, however, as Zeyda and Page lost 3-8.

Pray opened up the singles at the one with a difficult start. Despite narrowly losing 4-6 in his first set, he came back strong in the second to win 6-3. The third set turned into a hard superbreaker where Pray won 10-4 for the first win in singles. Midler came in at the two, opening with a shut-out win of 6-0 in the first set. Though his opponent got in a few good shots in the second, Midler still claimed a victory of 6-3.

Zeyda played a dominating match in the three, finishing a quick first set with a shutout of 6-0. He continued to pressure his opponent in the second set, only allowing one point in a 6-1 win. Goldman also had a strong match at the four, winning both sets who pulled out a win of 8-4 6-1 and 6-3. The five went to Burling, who also won sets of 6-1 and 6-3. Crystal had the final match at the six but lost 3-6 and 2-6. Oberlin got off to a good start in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 7-2 win.

Goldman praised the high quality performances of his fellow teammates: “The schools we’ve played so far have challenged us, and we attribute our wins to team camaraderie and all-out support for one another as a team.”

Burling was proud to start off the conference season with a win: “The guys are coming out strong and doing what we can. It feels good to start out undefeated in the conference again.”

The men’s team looks to continue its undefeated conference record with a win against NCAC opponents Ohio Wesleyan this Saturday at home.