BEREA, OHIO -- The third-seeded Baldwin-Wallace College men's tennis team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival and second-seeded Mount Union College, 5-1, today (Friday, April 27, 2007) in the semifinal round of the 2007 OAC Tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
B-W now advances to play either top-seeded Ohio Northern University the 2007 OAC Championship match on Saturday, April 28 at 1:00 p.m. ONU beat fourth-seeded John Carroll University, 5-2, to advance to the finals. The winner of the B-W and ONU match will earn the OAC's automatic berth in the 2007 NCAA Division III National Tournament. ONU beat B-W, 8-1, last week in Ada.
With its win, B-W improves to 21-2 overall and avenges one of its two losses this season. The Yellow Jackets lost to Mt. Union, 5-4, earlier this season in Berea on April 7. Mt. Union ends its season at 18-5 overall.
In doubles, B-W built a 2-1 lead as the number one tandem of junior No.1 singles standout James Daly (Akron/ Firestone) and sophomore No.5 player Jim Kucera (Mentor) and the No. 2 duo of senior No. 2 player Ryan McCartney (Lorain/ Admiral King) and freshman No.3 player Andy Redd (Archbold) both won. The win was Daly and Kucera was the 18th straight for the duo as they improved to 18-1 this season. McCarney and Redd improved to 11-5 overall.
In singles play, Daly and Apperson won their matches and Kucera clinched the victory with his victory at No.4. With his win, Daly, this week's OAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week, is now 26-2 this season and 77-7 in his career in singles play and is two wins shy of tying Mike Wagner's (2000-2004) all-time school-record of 79 career wins. He has won 14 straight matches this season and is 22-1 in singles in dual match action. Daly is B-W's all-time leader with 67 career doubles wins, a 67-10 record, a school-record 144 career combination (singles + doubles = combination) wins and a career overall slate of 144-17. In addition and with their singles wins, Apperson is now 14-5 and Kucera is 13-5. Although they did not get to finish their singles matches, individually McCartney is 13-8, Redd is 16-7 and Long is 18-5.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact B-W Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, by FAX machine at 440-826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. To contact Head Coach Brian Rector, pleace call him in the office at 440-826-3819 or you can reach him via e-mail at rectobr@stratos.net.
Baldwin-Wallace College Men versus Mount Union College
2007 Ohio Athletic Conference Semifinal Match
on 4/27/2007; in Mason, Ohio at 12:00 p.m.
At the Lindner Family Tennis Center
FINAL SCORE: BALDWIN-WALLACE 5, MOUNT UNION 1
First Singles: Daly (B-W) def. Moreland (MUC), 6-2, 6-0; Second Singles: McCartney (B-W) versus Mogus (MUC), 6-4, 2-5 unfinished; Third Singles: Redd (B-W) versus Widdoes (MUC), 2-6, 2-4 unfinished; Fourth Singles: Apperson (B-W) def. Papay (MUC), 6-1, 6-1; Fifth Singles: Kucera (B-W) def. Belconis (MUC), 6-3, 7-5; Sixth Singles: Long (B-W) versus Jefferies (MUC), 1-5 unfinished; First Doubles: Daly-Kucera (B-W) def. Papay-Jefferies (MUC), 8-3; Second Doubles: McCartney-Redd (B-W) def. Moreland-Belconis (MUC), 9-8 (7-5); Third Doubles: Mogus-Widdoes (MUC) def. Long-Mitoff (B-W), 8-6.
275 Eastland Rd.