Mountaineers Outlast Kangaroos 4-5 on Faculty/Staff/Student Appreciation Day

SHERMAN, Tex. -  Before an Elizabeth Russell Tennis Center that was packed with family, friends, and fans for Faculty/Staff/Student Appreciation Day, the Austin College Men's Tennis Team made a statement in a 4-5 loss to rival Schreiner University.

Looking to avenge 9-0 & 5-1 losses to the Mountaineers from 2014-15, AC came out strong in doubles competition, leading at least once in every men's doubles match.

Schreiner would strike first, taking Line 1 over Granberry/Ambulo 8-5, but the Kangaroos would level the match with a huge 9-8 (7-5) win at Line 3 from Oxenreiter/Kubena.

After falling down 6-3 and 7-4, Meendsen/Glasscock would battle to 7-6, but a late break of serve cost the 'Roos the "doubles point," falling behind 2-1 going into singles competition.

AC got two quick points from Erik Meendsen at Line 2 (6-3, 6-2) and Josh Granberry at Line 3 (6-2, 6-2) to put them up 3-2.

Cedric Ambulo may have played his best tennis at Line 1 singles against an opponent that recorded 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3, 6-1 wins over the Senior last year.  Starting out up 5-2 against the Mountaineer singles play, the first set would go into a tiebreaker, falling the way of the Schriener #1 Singles Player 7-6 (8-6).

Ambulo would battle back to take the second set 7-5, but would drop the third 6-2.

Jacob Morgan had a lead late in the first set, but could not hang on, dropping the first half of the match at Line 6 7-5.  He would fall behind 5-2, but battle his way back into the match, forcing a 7-5, 7-5 decision in favor of Schreiner.

With the 'Roos down 3-4 and the visitors only needing one match to clinch, Freshman Kenneth Hardy and Junior Preston Glasscock found themselves last matches on, battling for the win.  Hardy dropped his 1st set 6-3, and Glasscock dropped his 6-2.

But both would force a split-set decision when they took their 2nd sets 6-4.  With Hardy's match tied 4-4, the Freshman would go up for a scissor-kick overhead and when he came down, his leg locked up with cramps.

Head Coach Ryan Dodd stopped the match to prevent further injury, clinching the team victory for the Mountaineers.

Glasscock would take his third set 6-4 soon thereafter, with the final score reading 5-4 Mountaineers defeat Kangaroos.

Thank you to all of the fans, friends, and family members that came out to the match.  The atmosphere was electric because of you and we hope you enjoyed the competition and were proud of our young men and continue to come out to more home matches.

Austin College returns to action on the road vs. Dallas Baptist University at 1:00pm on Saturday, April 9th.

Austin College 4, Schreiner University 5

Sherman, TX

Elizabeth Russell Tennis Center

4/3/2016

Singles

1. Nick Pena (SU) def. Cedric Ambulo (AC) 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 6-2

2. Erik Meendsen (AC) def. Hoanh Le (SU) 6-3, 6-2

3. Josh Granberry (AC) def. Josh Newman (SU) 6-2, 6-2

4. Josh Ramirez (SU) def. Kenneth Hardy (AC) 6-3, 4-6, 4-4, ret.

5. Preston Glasscock (AC) def. Dayton Hancock (SU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

6. Christian Casillas (SU) def. Jacob Morgan (AC) 7-5, 7-5

Doubles

1. Pena/Hancock (SU) def. Ambulo/Granberry (AC) 8-5

2. Newman/Vasquez (SU) def. Meendsen/Glasscock (AC) 8-6

3. Kubena/Oxenreiter (AC) def. Le/Ramirez (SU) 9-8 (7-5)

Match Notes

Austin College: 6-5 (1-2)

Schreiner University: 11-3 (2-1); #20 Regional Ranking

Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2) Singles (3, 2, 1, 6, 4, 5)