Nathan Devereux

Joaquin Abos Amo

This Week's Outlook: The seventh-seeded College of Wooster men's tennis team takes on second-seeded and 28th-ranked Denison University in the quarterfinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday, April 27 at 9 a.m. at North Central High School's Barbara S. Wynne Tennis Center in Indianapolis, Ind.

Media Coverage: Fans can follow live updates of Wooster's tournament action through the available tournament central page provided by Wabash College, the co-host of this year's tournament along with DePauw University. Fans can also follow the men's tennis team's Twitter account @wooster10s for periodic updates and @WoosterSports for end-of-day results.

Last Meeting: Denison (11-4, 4-0 NCAC West) swept the Fighting Scots (8-13, 1-2 NCAC East) 9-0 on March 28 at Granville, Ohio. Senior Titas Bera's (North Potomac, Md./Wootton) 14-match winning streak came to an end against fellow regionally-ranked opponent Vlad Rotnov in a three-set loss, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (7). Bera and junior Jesse DeWitt (Brooksville, Fla./Nature Coast Technical) turned in a strong performance earlier in the match at No. 1 doubles, but eventually fell 8-6 to Denison's regionally-ranked pair in Kevin Brown and Jamie McDonald, while sophomore Nathan Devereux (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) took five second-set games from Brown – a two-time first-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference honoree in singles – during his 6-2, 7-5 loss. Additionally, first-year Joaquin Abos Amo (Ayegui, Spain) won four games off of his two-time all-conference opponent in the second set of his singles match. 

Historic Career: Last season, Bera became the first Scot to be named NCAC Player of the Year since Nilesh Saldanha earned the title in 2003. With 69 career singles wins, Bera stands two back of entering the program's top five for most singles victories, and combined with 50 career doubles wins, the standout senior remains three overall wins shy of tying W Association Hall of Famer Warren Cham-A-Koon ('95) for the sixth-most combined wins in program history. Bera, currently the ninth-ranked player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Region poll, ranks third all-time for wins at No. 1 singles with 52, and remains two back of tying alumnus Steve Kuri ('90) – another W Association Hall of Famer – for second place.

First-Year Impact: This season, Wooster's first-years have combined for 30 singles wins while contributing towards 17 doubles victories, led by Abos Amo's overall singles record of 15-9. After posting an 8-0 record at No. 4 singles, the first-year has moved up the lineup towards the latter part of the year and produced an even 4-4 record at the No. 2 spot. Classmate Saeed Husain (Karachi, Pakistan) has floated around the No. 4-6 positions en route to a 6-9 overall record, including a 1-1 clip at No. 4 and 5-7 record at No. 6. In doubles, Abos Amo and partner Devereux turned in a 2-1 record in NCAC East Division play, and most recently came out with an impressive 8-6 win at No. 1 in the regular-season finale against Rose-Hulman, the 16th-ranked program in the region. 

Tournament History: These two programs have met 11 times in the NCAC Tournament since 1990, including twice in the quarterfinals and most recently in 2011, when the Big Red defeated Wooster, 5-0. In that span, the Scots are 2-9, with both victories coming in the championship match and the most recent occurring in 1996. As far as the last three regular-season matches, the Big Red topped Wooster, 7-2, in 2017 and 2016, and 9-0 in 2015. Last season, Bera and Devereux came away with respective singles wins at No. 1 and No. 5.