The College of Wooster men's tennis team competed in four closely contested matches during its annual spring break trip to Hilton Head, S.C., but despite a solid singles record which included quality wins at the top of the lineup, the Fighting Scots won just one match and suffered a handful of near misses.

Entering the trip with an undefeated 3-0 record, the Scots endured their first blemish of the season in a one-point loss (4-5) to Methodist University. Wooster went 4-2 in singles action in the match, including wins by Matt Mandell and Brad Palanski at No.2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, but struggled to keep pace in doubles action.

Wooster bounced back the next day by handing Macalester College a 5-4 defeat, again going 4-2 in singles competition, highlighted by Steve Conroy's second-consecutive decisive win at the No. 6 spot. Then against Manhattanville College later in the week, Wooster endured a disappointing 6-3 loss, which included two narrow tiebreak losses at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. The Scots did have success in doubles action, though, as Matt Hoch and Ethan Arenstein won at No. 1, and Palanski and Ashvin Reddy prevailed at No. 3.

Mandell got the opportunity to fill in at No. 1 singles in the team's final game against Hobart College, and succeeded in winning a lengthy battle that featured three tiebreak sets. Arenstein and Conroy both moved up a spot in the lineup as well and notched wins at No. 3 and No. 5 singles, respectively, but Wooster fell 6-3 in the match.

Individually, Mandell improved to 6-1 on the season with his 3-1 efforts down south, and Conroy also posted a 3-1 record and is now 5-2 on the season. Palanski went 4-3 overall, notching two wins in both singles and doubles competition.

Wooster will host Ohio Northern University (3-2) on March 30 at 3:30 p.m.