17 Apr 2024 Harding men’s tennis defeats Ouachita Baptist
The Harding men’s tennis team defeated No. 25-ranked Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia on Tuesday 5-2. The Bisons are now 13-7 on the season with three additional wins against junior colleges and are 2-1 in conference play. The Bisons have won three of their last four matches against ranked opponents.
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For the 11th time in the last 13 matches, the Bisons began by winning the doubles point and taking the early 1-0 lead. Jaydon Van Vreden and Caleb Folse won the opening match 6-4 at No. 2. The pair have now won a team leading 12 doubles matches. Cas de Ruiter and Teodor Zlatar, the third-ranked doubles pair in Division II, clinched the point with a 6-4 victory of their own, taking down the seventh-ranked duo of Alex Blanchar and Phil Exner.
The Tigers responded quickly, grabbing the first two singles matches at No. 1 and No. 3 to take the 2-1 lead with four matches remaining. Cian Mikkelsen leveled the match at 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 4. Zlatar took down the No. 21-ranked singles player in a tight three-setter, winning 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 at No. 2. Zlatar improves to 13-5 on the season.
Needing just one win to clinch the match, Luis Agullo picked up his tenth match of the season, winning 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5. Bryce Walker put a stamp on the match with a win at No. 6 in a third set tiebreaker, winning 6-4, 6-7, 10-5.
The Bisons will finish up the regular season next Friday April 26 when they travel to Wichita, Kansas, to take on Newman.