ORLANDO — The No. 23-ranked Southwestern men's tennis team earned its highest-ranked win with a 5-4 victory over the No. 13-ranked Wesleyan Cardinals.
Southwestern got a big match from No. 3 doubles team Oscar Roy and Carlos Esteban Rodero, defeating Max Lustgarten and Clay Gaieski 8-3 to prevent a Wesleyan doubles sweep after Peter Anker and Ben Mitchell defeated Vesko Lekovic and Hemanshu Rambojun 8-4, and Zach Lieb and Harry Portnoy won 8-6 over Hunter Bajoit and Jared Burton in the top two spots.
"Carlos and Oscar got us a big point at No. 3 doubles, and we had our chances at No. 2 as well, with some break points with Wesleyan trying to serve it out," Southwestern head tennis coach Billy Porter says. "We've been down 1-2 in every one of our big matches this year. So having been in that position before helped us prepare for what was ahead in singles."
Bajoit earned a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Anker at No. 1 singles, but Lieb earned a three-set win over Lekovic, winning 6-2, 3-6, 10-5 at No. 2 singles, and Mitchell bested Borovik 6-3, 6-0 in No. 3 singles. In the fifth spot, Steven Tibbetts picked up a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Portnoy.
Roy won a hard-fought 7-5 first set over Lustgarten at No. 5 singles, followed by a 6-0 second set to take the match. Burton earned a 6-2, 7-5 win over Lee at No. 6 singles.
"Oscar was down 2-5 in the first set and had a ferocious come back to take the set," Porter says. "Jared adjusted late in the second set, and Steven just out-grinded his opponent. We also got a huge win from Hunter at the top of our lineup."
Southwestern improves to 3-4. The Pirates will play No. 21-ranked Kenyon and Rhodes on Monday to close out its Florida road trip.