Jesse DeWitt

In a back-and-forth affair, The College of Wooster men's tennis team came up just short in a series of close matches, as John Carroll University tripped up the Fighting Scots by a final count of 6-3 as the northeast Ohio foes had their annual non-league meeting inside at Western Reserve Racquet & Fitness Club in Streetsboro, Ohio, on Friday.

Wooster (9-9) scored a doubles point when Titas Bera and Harrison Suttle finished off their opponents at the No. 2 position 8-5, however, John Carroll (6-6) took what may have been the pivotal point of the whole match at No. 1, in which its top team edged Jack Buchan and Davis Elkins via a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-2).

That gave the Blue Streaks a 2-1 advantage going into singles. The Scots gained a quick point from Buchan at the second spot, courtesy of a retirement (Buchan was leading 4-1 in the first set). Jesse DeWitt accounted for Wooster's third team point, prevailing in a third-set super tiebreaker at No. 6 (6-4, 3-6, 10-8).

Two other three-setters in singles went John Carroll's way, with Suttle falling in a particular close match at No. 5 (6-7, 7-5, 10-5), and also noteworthy, Bera dropped a tightly-contested battle featuring two regionally-ranked players at the top of the lineup as the Streaks' Jad Abdul-Aal edged him 6-4, 6-4. Bera, though, showcased significant improvement, having won just two games in their meeting from a year ago.

The Scots will be right back in action Saturday, facing North Coast Athletic Conference East Division foe Oberlin College (11-6, 0-0 NCAC East) at North Ridge Racquet Club in North Ridgeville, Ohio.