Jesse DeWitt

Davis Elkins

The College of Wooster men's tennis team kicked off a three-match trip to Janesville, Wisconsin with a Saturday doubleheader against No. 17 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, with the Fighting Scots falling 9-0 to Whitewater before capping the night off with a down-to-the-wire thriller against La Crosse, winning 5-4.

Against La Crosse (2-2), sophomore Jesse DeWitt clinched the win for Wooster (2-3) in a three-set thriller at the No. 4 singles spot, topping opponent Matt Riley 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (8). Down a set and serving at 5-5, DeWitt won the next two games to force the third set super tiebreaker. Up 4-2 at the first change over, DeWitt ended a 40-ball rally on a whipped crosscourt forehand winner to go up 5-2. Leading 7-5 at the second crossover, DeWitt pushed his lead to 9-6, but Riley held off two match-points before DeWitt converted and clinched the match for the Scots, winning 10-8 in the third.

Wooster went into singles action up 2-1 after wins at the top two doubles positions. The No. 1 senior doubles pair of Jack Buchan and Davis Elkins won 8-3, while the pair of DeWitt and junior Titas Bera matched that, winning 8-3 at No. 2 doubles.

In singles play, Elkins was the first Scot off the court after topping Austin Stefanich, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 3 position. The scoreline receded back to 3-2 after Buchan fell 3-6, 2-6 at the No. 2 spot. Bera picked Wooster back up with a three-set win at the top spot, winning 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (1) over Kyle Wogahn, while first-year Nathan Devereux and junior Andrew Long both fell, 1-6, 1-6, at the fifth and sixth spots, respectively, before DeWitt clinched the night cap in the number four hole.

Of note, Saturday's win avenged last year's match-up, which La Crosse won, 7-2, at Orlando, Fla.

In the day's opener against Whitewater (1-2), the No. 1 senior doubles pair of Buchan and Elkins fell 8-6 in a close-fought doubles pro-set to the tandem of Grant Thompson and Jimmy Engelhart. At No. 2 doubles, Bera and DeWitt went down 8-4, while Devereux and Long fell 8-3 in the third spot.

In singles action, three matches went to a third-set super tiebreaker, included Bera at No.1 who took the first set, 6-4, before dropping the second, 3-6, and the third 6-10 to Thompson, the 22nd-ranked singles player in the region, in what was Whitewater's clinching point.

Buchan fell 3-7 in a first set tiebreaker in the two spot to Engelhart before dropping the second set 2-6. At No. 3 singles, Elkins battled back against Whitewater's Roy Calabria, winning the second set, 6-3, after losing the opener, 4-6, but Calabria topped the senior 10-6 in the third-set tiebreaker.

In what was the most competitive match scoreline-wise, Devereaux split the first two sets against Zach Wood, winning the first, 6-2, before losing the second, 1-6. In the super tiebreaker, Wood edged the first-year, 10-8.

The Scots cap off their weekend trip against Elmhurst College (0-5) on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 9 a.m. at the Premeir Tennis & Fitness Club in Janesville, Wis.