The Hope College men’s tennis team battled from being down after doubles play to claim a 6-3 victory at Ohio Northern University on Saturday.

The Flying Dutchmen overcame a 2-1 deficit to earn the second hard-fought victory in Ohio this weekend and improve their record to 2-1. On Friday, Hope won at The College of Wooster (Ohio) by a 5-4 margin.

Against Ohio Northern, the Flying Dutchmen won five of six singles flights. 

Hope set a tone by going 5-0 in tiebreaks.

Senior Justin Fay (Naperville, Illinois / St. Francis HS) led the team with a tenacious victory at the top flight. 

Fay proved unshakeable as he battled from down two breaks of serve in the first set and down another break in the second set, winning two set tiebreaks to claim a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) win.

Earlier in the match, Fay teamed with senior John Voss (Cincinnati, Ohio / St. Xavier) for an 8-6 victory against Samrvir Sran and Thomas Schultz.

At the second flight, freshman Rylan Doden (Fort Wayne, Indiana / Blackhawk Christian) crushed his opponent in the first set, but needed to rally for a 6-0, 5-7, 1-0 victory against Peyton Specht.

Freshman Paul Schneider (Fishers, Indiana / Hamilton Southeastern) and junior Austin Becksvoort (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian) both had to battle back from down a set to claim victory in super-tiebreaks at third and fifth singles, respectively.

Schneider defeated Schultz, 4-6, 6-0, 1-0. Becksvoort topped Ashton Hesson 5-7, 6-0, 1-0.

Freshman Cooper Nugent (Rochester Hills, Michigan / Rochester Adams) claimed Hope’s final victory at the fourth singles flight, winning 7-5, 6-1 against Tyler Wood.

The Flying Dutchmen come home with a head full of steam and are preparing to take on Davenport University on Friday, February 9, for their home opener.