By Chandler Ingle
Sports Information Intern
GOSHEN, Ind. — A late 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory for Kartikeya Sharma at no. 3 singles helped seal the Goshen College men's tennis team a 5-4 victory over Taylor University Saturday afternoon at the Goshen College Tennis Complex.
Taylor (4-5, 4-4 Crossroads League) captured a 2-1 advantage heading into the singles portion of the match with wins at the top two doubles positions. The no. 3 duo of Eric Zuercher and Aritha Weerasinghe paired up to register the lone doubles victory for GC.
"We still need to work on our shot selection and court positioning in doubles," said Goshen director of tennis Evan Atkinson. "We make the wrong choices far too often and it costs us each match. It's challenging to come from behind in these matches and puts a lot of pressure on our singles play. Thankfully our guys were ready for the task today."
The Maple Leafs (5-4, 4-3 CL) fought back in the latter stages of the 91-degree afternoon by claiming victories at the middle four spots of the six-player singles lineup. Both Juan Miguel Ciudad and Sharma needed three stanzas to get the job done: Ciudad's was ironically the first singles match to come to an end. Ciudad's come-from-behind 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory pushed the junior to an impressive 9-1 on the season.
Weerasinghe and Lukas Kanther rounded out the scoring for Goshen with straight set wins in their respective singles performances. Each needed seven games in their first set to do so, with Kanther requiring a tiebreak.
Sophomore Evan Beck relinquished his chance to be the match-deciding victory with a tough 6-4, 1-6, 4-6 loss at his no. 6 post before Sharma put the nail in the coffin with his victory over Taylor's Andre Danelli.
"I've had my fair share of nail-biters in my coaching career, and it was great to see Kart come back from 1-4 in the third to win the next 5 games," Atkinson said. "At 4-4 his opponent went down with cramps and had a medical timeout. We were glad Andre was able to continue the match and that the break didn't affect Kart's mentality and momentum in his comeback. We needed this one after the heartbreak at SAU and were glad for the poetic justice in Kart's finale after losing a third-set lead in the tiebreaking match on Wednesday."
The Goshen victory broke the fifth place tie with Taylor at the fifth position in Crossroads League standings. For the time being, the Leafs sit one game behind Huntington for fourth place with just two conference matches remaining on the Goshen schedule, one of which is against the Foresters next Saturday at GC.
A Bethel victory over Saint Francis Thursday evening clinched the Leafs a spot in Crossroads League tournament action no matter the outcome of the remainder of their schedule. The top eight seeds in the 10-team league progress to that single-elimination event: Goshen can still finish anywhere from third to seventh.
With the standings pressure showing no signs of abating, Atkinson also praised his team's response to pressure in their matches.
"It was a brutal day to play in the heat and I was happy with how our team endured it," the coach said. "They were hydrated and prepared. Juan played a loose first set but was able to regain his usual form in his next sets. I was very happy with how Evan handled pressure today, even in his loss. It's great to see guys step up to the challenge and battle for every point at a high level."
The men will return to the hard court next Tuesday as the make the long trek to Mount Vernon Nazarene University to begin play at 1 p.m.
Full Results: Goshen 5, Taylor 4
Singles
1. Christen Jacquottet (TU) def. Eric Zuercher 6-3, 6-1
2. Juan Miguel Ciudad (GC) def. Salvador Lo Cascio 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
3. Kartikeya Sharma (GC) def. Andre Danelli 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Aritha Weerasinghe (GC) def. Jake Herbruck 7-5, 6-2
5. Lukas Kanther (GC) def. Stephen All 7-6(4), 6-3
6. Alex Jung (TU) def. Evan Beck 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
1. Herbruck/Jung (TU) def. Ciudad/Sharma 8-5
2. Danelli/Jacquottet (TU) def. Luke Rush/Kanther 8-5
3. Weerasinghe/Zuercher (GC) def. Lo Cascio/Scott 8-4
