JBU men's tennis wins pair of matches at OKWU

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. -- In rare fall action, the John Brown University men's tennis team took a pair of season-opening wins over Oklahoma Wesleyan on Tuesday to open the 2021-22 campaign with a quick 2-0 start.

The Golden Eagles (2-0) landed a 6-1 victory in the first matchup before taking the second play-to-clinch contest by a 4-1 final.

Oklahoma Wesleyan opens its season with an 0-2 start. John Brown defeated the Eagles 6-1 to open the 2020-21 campaign in Bartlesville last year.

"I'm proud of how we kicked off the season," second-year head coach Mike Campbell said. "Oklahoma Wesleyan is a much-improved team, and we're in the middle of a rebuilding period for our program. Still, we went out, won the doubles point -- which will be huge for our team this season -- and took care of business.

"Kory (Rash) stepped in for his first collegiate action and played very well. Of course, Hudson (Dick) took on and beat a strong opponent in Jose Catala, and we used wins from Woody (Woodring) and Blake (Cunningham) to seal a pair of wins heading into tournament play next weekend. I'm very excited for these guys."

In the earlier matchup, sophomore Hudson Dick needed a pair of tiebreakers and a third-set tiebreak to finally defeat Catala, 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (5-7), 10-5. Junior Carson Thoma breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 victory at the four spot in his first action as a Golden Eagle, while senior Woody Woodring earned a 6-3, 6-1 win at five to pull John Brown within a point of winning the match. Junior Blake Cunningham's 6-0, 6-3 win at the fifth flight over Brenner McDougal clinched the contest before junior Kory Rash and Dick sewed up their respective singles victories.

The second contest was much the same, except Dick and Woodring combined for an 8-3 win over Catala and Clement Martin at the top doubles flight. Rash and sophomore Isaac Jordan took an 8-4 decision at the bottom flight to again give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 advantage after doubles play.

Woodring and Rash both moved to 2-0 in singles play, bolstering the JBU lead to 3-0. Wesleyan took a victory at the second spot, but the comeback ended quickly with Cunningham's 6-2, 6-2 win at the fifth flight to end the contest and a long 12-hour day of tennis.

John Brown will return to action in the spring semester, when it faces Hendrix (Ark.) on Feb. 11 in Conway.