Aug. 30, 2007

The University of Northwestern Ohio men's and women's teams opened their tennis season with both squads losing 8-1. On the men's side, the doubles matches showed promise as #1 Jason Sarno and William Draur were defeated by Taylor Moore and Mitchell McDonald 8-6. Evan Carr and Logan Wyse were defeated by Gonzalo Vivas and Adam Widener by a score of 8-4 at #2. At #3, Troy Schroeder and Taylor Frangie were defeated by Matt Cable and James Makula 8-3.

The men's lone victory came at the #5 spot as William Draur defeated James Makula 6-4, 6-4 to give Draur the first men's victory of the season. The rest of the Racers went down in straight sets as Sarno was defeated 6-2, 6-2 at the #1. Schroeder was edged in a tough match 6-3, 6-4 at the #2. Carr was taken down 6-4, 6-0 at the #3. Frangie opened the single season with a loss with scores of 6-4, 6-0 at the #4. Rounding out the men's side was Wyse who suffered a defeat of 6-4, 6-1 at the #6.

The women were a little shorthanded and were forced to Default two matches due to only having five players available for the match. The doubles opened with Jamie Hilborn and Carling Barrett being outmatched with experience by a score of 8-3 at the #1. At the #2, Erynn Piper and Sara Prinzi were defeated by Jessica Deter and Kendra Ganz 8-4. At the #3 in the women's doubles, UNOH had to default and Huntington gained the victory.

In the women's singles, the first victory and a promising look for the future of the women's tennis team was #1 Hilborn. Hilborn was winning 6-4, 2-1 at the time a Default was awarded to Hilborn as Stephanie Strong was unable to finish the match. The rest of the Racers were defeated in straight sets as #2 Barrett was defeated 6-1, 6-3. At the #3, Piper was defeated 6-0, 6-2. Prinzi was at the #4 and was downed 6-1, 6-1. At the #5, Joseph opened her season with defeats of 6-0, 6-0. At the #6, the Racers were unable to play and were defeated by a Default. After the match, Coach Terry Hilborn was quoted, "We were very competitive in our opening match, especially coming out strong in our doubles matches." The Racers were outmatched with experience as the Racers open the tennis program without any collegiate experience, "It was underclassmen against upperclassmen and we held our own" Hilborn said.

The Racers tennis squads will look to build on their season as they play their opening home match on September 7 at Collett St. tennis courts. The Racers will host Defiance College at 2:30 pm.