The College of Wooster came up on the short end of a pair of 5-4 decisions, sandwiched around a 5-0 win, as it closed the season with a sixth-place finish at the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament, which took place Friday and Saturday at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

Wooster, which was 4-1 in 5-4 matches previously this year, began the event as part of a rematch from one of last year's quarterfinals and Wabash College again squeaked by the Fighting Scots. Last spring's meeting went 5-3 and Friday morning's session was even closer. The Little Giants gained a 2-1 lead through the doubles, with Brad Palanski and Chris Collen collecting Wooster's team point at No. 3 (8-1).

In singles play, Jeremy Dominik and Matt Mandell posted dominant straight-set wins at No. 2 (6-0, 6-1) and No. 5 (6-0, 6-4), respectively, to get the Scots back into the match. Then, Ethan Arenstein secured a hard-fought 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 triumph at the third slot to even the team score at four, but Wabash clinched it at the sixth position (3-6, 7-6, 6-4).

That put Wooster in the back draw, where it easily disposed of Oberlin College. The Scots won all three doubles matches and then completed the shutout with victories by Steve Conroy at No. 5 singles (6-0, 6-1) and Palanski at No. 6 (6-0, 6-0).

On Saturday, Wooster got off to a slow start in the fifth-place match as Ohio Wesleyan University grabbed all three doubles points. The Scots bounced back with some strong singles play, highlighted by seniors Pat Grab and Dominik winning their final collegiate matches at No. 1 (6-4, 6-1) and No. 2 (6-4, 6-2), respectively. Mandell added a 6-3, 6-4 victor at No. 4 and Conroy was dominant at No. 5 (6-0, 6-2), but Wooster could not complete the comeback, losing at No. 3 (6-2, 6-2) and No. 6 (7-5, 7-5).

The Scots wind up with a 15-8 record, marking their fourth 15-win season over the last six years.