ORLANDO, Fla. – Whitworth split its first two men's tennis contests during its spring break trip to Florida, losing to Birmingham Southern but defeating Augustana (S.D.).
The Pirates (7-5) will take Thursday off before playing two matches on Friday.
On Tuesday the Pirates fell 6-2 to Birmingham Southern. The Panthers took a 2-1 lead after doubles when Micah Spaun and Stefan Dernbach won their match at #2 for the Pirates.
Daniel Redfern earned a 6-3, 6-4 win over John Zukley at #1 singles for Whitworth's second point.
The Pirates defeated NCAA Div. II Augustana 6-3 on Wednesday. The Bucs took two of three doubles matches: Dernbach and John Talbot won 9-8 (7-5) at #2 doubles, while Matt Goebel and Dustin McConnell earned an 8-2 win at #3 doubles.
The most dramatic match of the day came at the top of the singles ladder where Redfern held off a match point to complete a 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 1-0 (10-5) win over Jared Drenkow.
McConnell earned his first individual win of the season with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Neal Gregerson at #4 singles, leading Whitworth to a sweep of the 4th-6th singles matches.
Ben Hamming beat Max Eckrich 6-1, 6-1 at #5, while Chris Englemann topped Dane Rasmussen 6-1, 6-1 at #6.
Whitworth will play SUNY-Oneonta on Friday before competing in an exhibition match at NAIA Webber International.
