Yellow Jackets Sting the Scots

DEFIANCE, OHIO – On a late Tuesday night, the Defiance College men's tennis team bounced back after a season-opening loss on Saturday to defeat visiting Alma (Mich.) College in a match that lasted into the early hours of the morning by a finalscore of 5-4.

Defiance (1-1), began doubles competition with a win in the third doubles spot with the pair of senior Ryan Nelson (Oregon/Clay) and sophomore Tory Savage (Bryan) defeating Alma (2-3) by a score of 8-2.

Due to time constraints, pro-sets were played in singles play instead of the typical best two-out-of-three sets. Senior Mike Ross (Bryan) tied the overall score after winning his number one singles match by a score of 10-7.  With the score even, the Yellow Jackets needed to win three out of the final five singles matches. Nelson and fellow senior Justin Walker (Wilson, NC/Hunt) helped pave the way to victory with wins at the third and fourth singles slots. Nelson defeated the opposing Scot by a score of 11-10 (9-7) and Walker came back from being down 7-1 to earn a win in the fourth singles spot by a match score of 10-8.  

Entering the final two singles matches on the night, Defiance led Alma, 4-3, needing just one more to end the night with an overall victory. That win came in dominating fashion as sophomore James Demeo (Oregon/Clay) found a groove early on after trailing 2-3 before winning the next eight games to make his final score 10-3 in second singles.   

"This is the second year in a row that our first win of the year was a 5-4 victory that went past midnight," said Head Coach Tyler Ault. "Last year we lost to Alma, 9-0, in our only 9-0 loss of the season, it was a nice win for us."

The Yellow Jackets will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 28 when they host Muskingum University and Thomas More (Ky.) College. The match against Muskingum is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. while the match against Thomas More is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.