The 23rd-ranked DePauw Tigers men's tennis team took down the Wabash College Little Giants 8-1 on Wednesday in North Coast Atlantic Conference.
The win boosted the Tigers to 12-6 overall, and a perfect 3-0 in the conference.
The Tigers came out strong by sweeping all three doubles matches. Seniors Sam Miles and Ben Kopecky led the charge in the number-one doubles match with an 8-3 win over Wabash's Wade Miller and Michael Makio. Junior Eric Vannatta and sophomore Alec Kaczkowski followed with a victory of the same score in the number-two doubles match over Mark Troiano and Graham McMullen. First-years Pat Farrell and Harold Martin rounded out the the group with an 8-5 triumph over Wabash's Nate Koelper and Mazin Hakim.
Kopecky credits top to bottom contributions to the team's success on Wednesday.
"With the depth we have comes confidence in the strength of the guys at the lower end of the lineup and their ability to pull out big wins for us," Kopecky said. "Because of that, we are a little bit hungrier this year. We know we have a ton of potential and if we get hot we can surprise a lot of teams."
The dominance continued in the singles matches, with four of the five victories coming in straight sets. Senior number-one Sam Miles defeated Wade Miller (6-3, 6-0), and first-year number-four Pat Farrell trounced Nate Koelper (6-2, 6-1). Then, junior number-five Chris Bertolini defeated Graham McMullen (6-1, 6-3), and senior number-six Joe Collins topped Mazin Hakim (6-3, 6-1).
Farrell was satisfied with the true team effort against a competitive conference rival.
"We were very focused and everyone played well at every spot," Farrell said. "We knew Wabash was going to be really excited to play us, so we had to match their intensity and we did that well."
The Tigers split the matches that went into a third set, with number-two Kopecky defeating Makio 6-1, 6-4, 1-0 (10-2), and number-three Kaczkowski coming up short against Troiano 6-2, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7).
Although Kaczkowski dropped his singles match in a competitive third set, he was happy with the team's overall effort and hopes to carry the momentum over to their next conference match against Denison University.
"It's good to get a win over a tough conference opponent and is definitely a confidence boost for Denison this weekend," Kaczkowski said.
Denison boasts an 11-5 record overall, including a perfect 2-0 record in conference play. The Tigers have their work cut out for them, considering that the Big Red have won their previous two matches by a combined score of 15-0. They go head-to-head Saturday in a match hosted by the Tigers.
The match is the final conference meeting before the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, which kicks off next Friday in Granville, Ohio and is hosted by upcoming opponent Denison. The Tigers look to carry their momentum through the rest of the season to end the year on a high note.