SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- After capturing the deciding doubles flight to take a 1-0 lead into singles play, the John Brown University men's tennis team never trailed en route to a 4-3 victory over Evangel (Mo.) on Saturday (Feb. 19) afternoon at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
After junior Carson Thoma and sophomore Isaac Jordan used a 6-4 win at the third and deciding doubles flight to hand the Golden Eagles (5-1) a 1-0 lead, the teams traded points until Jordan clinched the match at the fifth spot to cement JBU's third consecutive win.
Sophomore Hudson Dick posted his third straight win at the top flight and moved to 4-1 on the season by landing a swift 6-0, 6-2 win over Jacob Grosz. Armed with a 2-1 lead, senior Woody Woodring gave John Brown a two-point cushion after outlasting Daryl Wong in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 10-4, improving to 4-2 overall at the third flight this year.
After the Crusaders again pulled within one, 3-2, Jordan clinched the match with a pair of 6-2 wins at the fifth flight – handing the sophomore his first individual win of the season.
"I am really proud of Woody for winning a big set match, which really gave us – and Isaac – a chance to win. Isaac has made his way into the top six this year by doing what exactly what he needed to do, and that's having good practices and winning challenging matches when he needs to.
"This team believes that they deserve to win. My challenge all year has been one of belief – it's never been a question of effort. Facing that challenge, do you believe you deserve to win, I think this semester they've shown not only that they can compete, but that they should compete. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year."
JBU returns to the courts on Friday (Feb. 26) when it welcomes Bethel (Kan.) to the JBU Tennis Courts for a 2 p.m. contest.
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