Men's Tennis (7-4, 2-0) Extends Winning Streak to Four, Alone in First Atop NEWMAC

The Wheaton College men's tennis team went 2-0 last week, extending its winning streak to four matches while becoming the lone squad in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) with a 2-0 league mark. The Lyons downed visiting Salve Regina University, 5-0 on Friday before rallying for a 5-4 win against NEWMAC foe United States Coast Guard Academy on Saturday.

After dropping a 9-0 match to the Seahawks in 2008, Wheaton blanked Salve Regina in a contest played to decision. In doubles, the tandems of junior James Little (Mount Desert, ME/Mount Desert Island)/freshman Neall Oliver (Portland, ME/Deering), senior Nii Manfoi Davies (Town & Country, MO/The Principia)/junior Kyle Hudgins (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge) and sophomores Harry Altman (Riverdale, NY/The Dwight School)/Brian Krantz (Milford, CT/Joseph A. Foran) were all victorious. Only two singles matches were played to completion, as Altman and sophomore Cullen Garrity (Middletown, MD/Saint James School) notched straight-set wins. Little was merely a game away from a sweep, holding a 6-3, 6-5 advantage at the time the team triumph was clinched.

When Wheaton faced Coast Guard, Oliver rallied to win his singles match in a third-set tiebreaker, and Garrity's ensuing victory capped the team's comeback win. Altman and Krantz picked up the Lyons' lone doubles triumph, and the hosts trailed 2-1 heading into singles, where Altman and Little picked up straight-set victories. Wheaton was still down 4-3 before Oliver responded with a 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 victory, as he trailed 5-1 in the third-set tiebreaker before rallying for a 9-7 win. With the teams knotted and Garrity having already won his opening set, he completed the comeback with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph.