BRIDGEWATER, Va. - Bridgewater College slipped past Hampden-Sydney College, 5-4, Saturday at Turner Ashby High School to advance to the semifinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men's tennis tournament.
The Eagles overcame the absence of No. 1 player Brandon Larsen to hold off the Tigers for the victory.
The Tigers emerged from doubles play with a 2-1 lead. The Eagles claimed the point at No. 2 doubles when Thomas Rishcoff and Sam Churchill edged Fitzhugh Johnson and Zack King, 8-6.
Hampden Sydney's No. 1 duo of J.B. Weaver and Thacher Jennings took an 8-3 victory over Christian Lynn and Mike Cable and the Tigers' No. 3 team of Lawrence Bowers and David Dodson rolled to an 8-2 victory over Kyle Hartfield and Aaron Snook.
With Larsen out of the lineup, the entire singles ladder moved up one spot.
The Tigers took two wins at the bottom of the ladder at No. 5 and No. 6. Trent Singleton defeated Cable 6-0, 7-6 to win at No. 5 while Dodson rallied after losing the opening set 6-4 to down Snook in the final two sets 6-0, 6-2. The two wins pulled the Tigers to within one point of winning the match.
The Eagles took victories at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 to even the match. Lynn took a straight sets victory at No. 2 singles over Johnson 6-2, 6-3 and Rishcoff turned back King 7-5, 6-2 at the No. 3 slot. Churchill won a tight match at No. 4, winning the first set in a tiebreaker and taking the second set 6-4.
The final match on the court was No. 1 singles where Bridgewater freshman Hartfield was battling Weaver. Weaver dominated the first set 6-0, but Hartfield won the second set in a tiebreaker to even the match. The Eagles' freshman won the deciding set 6-3 to send Bridgewater to the semifinals.
The Eagles will play in the ODAC semifinals next Saturday afternoon at Sweet Briar College. Bridgewater will meet the winner of the Washington and Lee vs. Randolph match. That match will be played Easter Sunday afternoon at the W&L courts.
