BABSON PARK, Fla. (February 21, 2019) – The Webber International University men's and women's tennis teams returned to Sun Conference action against Crooked Lake rival Warner University with what was technically an away match played at the Warriors' home venue in Babson Park, Florida. In the end, the Warrior men came away with an 8-1 win while the Webber women's team won 5-4 after a thrilling three-set win by freshman
Megan Kelson to finish off the night on Wednesday at the Webber Campus Tennis Courts.
Notable Men's Results:
Doubles
Singles
- After Tare Mariga started off singles action with a quick 6-4, 6-4 win in the No. 3 spot to pull Webber to within one win from clinching the match, four of the five remaining matches would go to three sets as the Royals did not go down easy.
- Ivan Bondarenko pulled it out 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 2 singles to clinch the win, and then Hugo Hasegawa competed his comeback in the No. 1 spot 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
- Rodrigo De Queiroz won 8-2 in the No. 6 position to put Webber up 6-0 before Christof Buehler dropped a close tiebreaker set 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 in the No. 5 spot, giving Warner its only win on the men's side.
- Playing No. 5 singles, Marc Schneider finished things off in Webber's favor with a comeback of his own, winning 6-7, 6-1, 1-0.
- Words from Coach Otis Cutshaw: "The men came out and played really well and we got all three doubles in the beginning. That helped set the tone for the match, but give Warner credit, we had four singles matches go three sets and were battles to the end that could have went a different way. The men stayed strong and answered the call to come away with a huge 'W'. I'm proud of the way they played today and now it's time to focus on the next match."
- Webber improved to 2-4 overall and 2-2 in The Sun Conference, matching its same number of conference wins from a year ago during Coach Cutshaw's first season with the Warriors. It was the second 8-1 win for Webber in conference play so far this season after the Warriors defeated Ave Maria University by the same score back on January 26. Warner, meanwhile, fell to 1-6 and 1-4.
Notable Women's Results:
Doubles
Singles
- Emily John won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles and Isabelle Niehoff won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, but after loses at the No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 positions, the Warriors still needed one more big win to come out on top.
- Playing in No. 5 singles for the first time in her young career, Megan Kelson dropped a close first set 7-6 and then with the match on the line, she came back from down 4-1 in the second set to win it 6-4 and set up the deciding third set. Kelson continued her inspired play by winning each of the first five games, giving her 10 straight wins at that point before finishing it off with a 6-1 third-set victory.
- Words from Coach Otis Cutshaw: "The ladies played some great doubles and got us a 2-1 advantage, which was a great start. After the first three singles matched finished, we had a 4-2 advantage only needing one win out of the next three matches, and we were faced with the task of stepping up with our regular No. 4 player out and everyone moving up a slot. The ladies responded well and fought hard, but we found our teams tied at 4-4 all with the No. 5 spot deciding who wins it all. Megan [Kelson] lost a tough first set in a tiebreaker after having a chance to win it serving at 5-4. She was then down 4-1 before she made a huge comeback and reeled off 10 straight games, which gave her the second-set win and a 5-0 lead in the third set. Being a freshman and in that position, she showed great poise and determination to win. I am really proud of these ladies and how they rallied around each other and responded to this tough situation. It was great to get a little payback after watching Warner celebrate last year on our home courts, but tomorrow is another day and we are on to the next match this weekend."
- Webber improved its record to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in The Sun Conference, surpassing its number of conference wins from a year ago during Coach Cuthshaw's first year at Webber. It was also the Warriors' second 5-4 win in conference play so far this season after defeating the College of Costal Georgia by the same margin in the team's season opener back on January 23. Warner fell to 2-5 and 1-4.
Extracurricular Activities: Following Kelson's epic win, second-year head coach
Otis Cutshaw received his first Gatorade bath as a Warrior courtesy of
Tare Mariga and Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
Gabriel Rutledge.
Next Up: Webber returns to the Miami area to battle Florida National University in Hialeah, Florida, on Friday, February 22, at 2 p.m. followed by a match on Saturday, February 23, at St. Thomas University, also at 2 p.m. in Miami Gardens, Florida.
