INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Toledo and IUPUI battled to the very last point in their match in Indianapolis on Saturday, with the Rockets coming away with a 4-3 decision that was not settled until freshman
Matias Olivero won on the No. 4 court.
It was the Rockets' first road win of the season and improves their record to 3-2.
"I am very proud of these guys today," head coach
Al Wermer said. "We were never ahead the entire match until the very end. We lost the doubles point, then were down in singles and in the match 1-3. The first time we got ahead was from Matias in the third set, after three and a half hours. The team had great resilience."
IUPUI secured the doubles point thanks to victories on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts, despite a win from the Toledo duo of
Krzysztof Wetoszka and
Adam Kovac at the No. 1 position.
The Jaguars surged ahead in singles competition with victories from Tom Ciszewski at No. 2 and Eli Mercer at No. 6 courts and were knocking on the door of clinching the match. The Rockets were not finished though, and picked up crucial wins from Wetoszka at No. 1 court,
Marko Galic at No. 3 court, and
Luis Kleinschnitz at No. 5 court, all in exhausting two-sets, to tie the match 3-3.
The final outcome came down to Olivero at the No. 4 court vs. Blessing Benibo, a battle that went into the third set. Olivero won the opening set 7-6(5), fell in the second set by the same score, then won the deciding match point by a 6-2 decision.
Toledo will be back home next Thursday, Feb. 9 for a noon match with Wayne State at Shadow Valley Tennis Club.
Toledo 4, IUPUI 3
Doubles
1.
Krzysztof Wetoszka/
Adam Kovac (TOL) def. Tom Ciszewski/ Alex Jochim (IUPUI) 7-6(3)
2. Colton Morehart/ Blessing Benibo (IUPUI) def.
Marko Galic/
Vlad Meluta (TOL) 6-4
3. Nicholas Moody/ Will Thurin (IUPUI) def.
Luis Kleinschnitz/
Matias Olivero (TOL) 7-6(4)
Singles
1.
Krzysztof Wetoszka (TOL) def. Alex Jochim (IUPUI)7-6(1), 7-5
2. Tom Ciszewski (IUPUI) def.
Adam Kovac (TOL) 6-2, 6-3
3.
Marko Galic (TOL) def. Colton Morehart (IUPUI) 6-1, 7-5
4.
Matias Olivero (TOL) def. Blessing Benibo (IUPUI) 7-6(5), 6(5)-7, 6-2
5.
Luis Kleinschnitz (TOL) def. Noah Viste (IUPUI) 6-2, 6-0
6. Eli Mercer (IUPUI) def.
Vlad Meluta (TOL) 6-4, 6-3
