The Franciscan men’s tennis team suffered defeat to the Otterbein University Cardinals nine matches to none in their first home competition this semester on Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. in the Indoor Tennis Center at Wheeling Park.
Sophomore Travis Mistry and freshman Samuel Sabol kicked off the doubles play in the No. 1 matchup and faced the Cardinals’ best duo. The match was quick and decisive with the Cardinal players making few mistakes and making the Barons pay for theirs.
The No. 2 double’s team composed of junior Aidan Palladino and freshman Benjamin Sabol fought hard but likewise lost their matchup 8-4.
Junior James Scanlon and freshman Callahan Hecton played as the number three doubles team and were defeated by Otterbein 8-1.
Mistry took the lead as the Barons’ No. 1 singles player, but his Cardinal counterpart proved to be the better opponent as Mistry lost both rounds 6-2. Palladino played as the No. 2 single and fell 6-0 in both rounds.
Samuel Sabol was the No. 3 single and lost his rounds 6-2 and 6-3. The No. 4 single Benjamin Sabol was defeated 6-4 and 6-0.
The No. 5 and 6 singles, Callahan and Scanlon, both lost their matches. Hecton lost 6-1 and 6-3. Scanlon fell 6-0 twice.
The Cardinals proved to be an enemy that the Barons were unable to defeat. The men’s tennis team is currently at three losses and one win this season, but they have yet to have a conference matchup. The Barons look to face the Baldwin Wallace University Yellow Jackets in their next non-conference game on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Paramount Tennis Club in Westlake.