ORLANDO, Fla. – Six different matches went to a tiebreaker as the Trine University men's tennis team came up just short of a victory, falling to the University of Northwestern (Minn.) by the score of 5-4.
The Thunder fell behind during the doubles portion of the day, winning just one of the three matches. The team of freshmen Elijah Schilthuis and Nicholas Jen won the No. 3 match but needed a tiebreaker to do so with the score of 8-7 (7-2).
Five of the six singles matches needed a tiebreaker of some kind with four needing super tiebreakers to determine a winner. Schilthuis was the lone member of the team to finish the day undefeated after taking the No. 3 match 6-1, 4-6, 10-8. Senior Aaron Streit took the No. 4 match while just needing a tiebreaker in the second set, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5). Finally, sophomore Caleb Morris came up with a win in the shortest match of the night, winning the No. 6 singles competition 6-1, 6-4.
The three other student-athletes in singles matches all won their first set but fell in super tiebreakers and the Thunder dropped the match 5-4.
The loss is the team's first of the season as they fall to 5-1 overall. They will continue their spring break slate of games tomorrow, Wednesday, March 7 when they take on Piedmont University at 7 p.m.