Box Score In an atmosphere that had a "Davis Cup" feel to it, John Carroll and Baldwin Wallace staged a spirited battle for first place with the number one seed in the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament at stake.

Utilizing a doubles sweep, the Blue Streaks grabbed a firm hold an their second consecutive OAC regular season title with a 6-3 victory over their crosstown rivals Sunday at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio

Box Score

Baldwin Wallace entered the match with gaudy numbers such as a 22-1 overall record and a 7-0 record in league play, whereas John Carroll had a 9-7 overall record (six losses to non Division III schools) and a 6-0 conference slate. 

The doubles competition would have a major impact on the proceedeings.

The first to come through with a point was the #3 team of junior Nick Siciliano and sophomore Tyler Cole, who jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and rolled to an 8-3 win over senior Kevin Fredrick and freshman Matt Harris. Next, it would be the #1 team of junior Jad Abdul-Aal and freshman David Sinense, who led wire-to-wire in an 8-5 victory over the heralded senior pairing Peter Harris and Doug Ganim, Harris and Ganim were 22-4 on the year and 87-22 in their career as partners prior to the loss.

Earning the final point in doubles play was the all sophomore duo of Dillon O'Brien and Scott Adsit, who came from behind to knock off senior Kyle Patterson and freshman Dominic Polifrone, 8-6, in the #2 match.

John Carroll needed just two singles wins to close out the match, and got three.

All six singles matches had a fair share of drama, even the ones settled in straight sets. The first to finish was actually a three setter as reigning OAC Player of the Week Kyle Patterson of Baldwin Wallace rallied from a set down to beat Alex Guthrie, 5-7 6-0 6-2 in the #3 match.

The Blue Streaks then closed out the match with a pair of wins at #5 and #6. Cole, who cruised in the opening set, survived a mid-set slump and won in a tiebreaker, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7). Adist also stumbled midway through his second set. Up a set and 5-1 in the second, he would drop five consecutive games before righting his ship. He would force a tiebreaker and would win 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

With the victory clinched and with three matches still in progress and all heading to a third set, the decision was made to play a tiebreaker instead of a full third set in those matches.

Siciliano won for the second time on the afternoon by closing out Polifrone 6-4, 4-6, 10-3., at #4 singles.

In the top two tiers, Baldwin Wallace was able to garner hard fought wins. 2015 OAC Player of the Year Peter Harris outlasted Abdul-Aal 7-5, 2-6, 10-8, while Ganim held off a challenge from Sinense, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5.

Despite the late setbacks, John Carroll wrapped up the number one seed in the upcoming OAC Tournament, marking the second consecutive season in which the Blue Streaks have held the top spot in the bracket.

The Blue Streaks won their third in a row over the Yellow Jackets, and improved to 10-7 overall and 7-0 in the OAC. Baldwin Wallace had its winning streak halted at 11 and fell to 22-2 overalla nd 7-1 in the OAC.

John Carroll has just one regular season match remaining this coming Saturday, April 30, at Marietta, which is 10-15 overall and 1-6 in the OAC.

Last season, JCU shared the regular season title with Otterbein and Capital. A win over Marietta would give the Blue Streaks their first undefeated OAC regular season and outright conference regular season title since 1997.