Zack Rotter

The College of Wooster men's tennis team split six matches during its annual spring break trip to Hilton Head, S.C., with all three of its wins being 7-2 decisions over Edgewood College, Nazareth College, and Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Wooster (5-7), which also dropped close contests to Lake Forest College and Macalester College by 5-4 and 5-3 counts, respectively, displayed strong singles depth throughout its time in Hilton Head. The key to the Fighting Scots' victory over Edgewood was taking the Nos. 2-6 singles matches. Milo Saurman cruised at the second position (6-0, 6-2) as did Paul Thomas at the third (6-2, 6-0), while Jacob Pine secured a 6-1, 7-5 triumph at the fourth. Zack Rotter and John Schulz finished off the Eagles as each had double bagels (6-0, 6-0) at their respective fifth and sixth spots.

A similar formula allowed Wooster to defeat Nazareth, but this time the Nos. 2-6 singles wins came during a series of hard-fought matches. Saurman and Thomas prevailed in a pair of third-set super tiebreakers at No. 2 (6-1, 2-6, 11-9) and No. 3 (6-2, 1-6, 10-6), respectively, as did Harrison Suttle at No. 5 (1-6, 6-4, 10-8). Pine came out on top in two close sets at the fourth slot, 7-5 and 6-4, while Rotter contributed a decisive score line at six (6-2, 6-0).

After falling behind 2-1 to Nebraska Wesleyan in doubles, the Scots swept singles play for the win. Willy Nelson delivered a 6-0, 6-3 triumph at the top of the lineup, followed by Saurman pulling out a tiebreaker in the first set, 7-4, as part of a 7-6, 6-3 match at No. 2. Thomas had a relatively easy time at third singles (6-3, 6-1), while Pine and Suttle emerged victors during third-set super tiebreakers at the respective fourth (2-6, 6-3, 10-6) and fifth (3-6, 7-5, 10-6) positions. Once again, Rotter was dominant at No. 6, yielding just one game (6-1, 6-0).

Wooster returns to action March 27 at Ohio Wesleyan University (3-9) at 4 p.m.