Yeomen bounce back for a sweet victory over Mellon

Like a bullet from a gun, or a ball from a Yeoman's racket, the men's tennis team shot back from a three-point deficit to narrowly beat Carnegie Mellon University 4-3 at home on Saturday. It was the team's second consecutive win.

The team lost their first two singles and their first two doubles matches, putting them behind by three points. The team swept the last four matches for the victory.

Junior Andy Sklarin won the fourth singles match, 6-3, 7-5. "I was in control of the match the whole time and wasn't worried about losing it," Sklarin said.

There are five first-years on the nine-person team, all of whom accounted for themselves very well. Peter Swensen, Mike O'Connell, and Sam Steckley all won their singles matches. Head coach Chris Barker had particular praise for Steckley. "He's a very solid player. He dismantled his opponent in a highly efficient manner." Steckley won his game 6-2, 6-2.

The number three doubles team of first-years Eric Shin and Tom Graves also played well, winning 8-4. "They played good tennis" Barker said.

Overall Barker was pleased with the team's effort. "We played a little better than last weekend, but still not our best tennis. We showed a lot of good character and we let the other team cook themselves. We pulled out a difficult win."

The team plays Tiffin University on Saturday. Oberlin has never played Tiffin before, but they present a mere quartet of players to oppose the Yeomen. "We'll probably win that match pretty easily" Sklarin said. Oberlin plays again Wednesday at Adrian University.