BOLIVAR, Mo. - For the second straight match, William Woods (15-4) posted a huge comeback against an NCAA Division II opponent, this time rallying from a loss of the doubles point at Southwest Baptist (6-11) to tie the match 3-3, but back-to-back lightning delays rendered the comeback moot, as the match was suspended due to darkness and unable to be made up. With the suspension, the match, along with the individual results, is considered incomplete and will not count toward the overall record for either team.
The Owls were again missing a top player due to academic obligations, as
Vaclav Schneider stayed back in Fulton on Thursday to finish a class presentation.
Ben Grumley reunited with doubles partner
Zinovii Nahirniak at the one line to pick up a 6-3 win over SBU's pairing of Pedro Pinto and Alejandro Beneyto Sanchez to tie doubles at 1-1, but the Owls couldn't hang on at the three to claim the point.
Elevated to the number one singles line, Grumley rolled over Youssef Nabil 7-6(0), 6-1 to pull the Owls to 2-1 in the match. Woods came up on the wrong side of an epic battle in two singles, as Nahirniak captured the first set 7-6(4) over Bojan Radoman before dropping the second set 4-6. Radoman outlasted Nahirniak in the third-set tiebreaker 10-8 to push Southwest Baptist to a 3-1 lead.
A 6-1, 6-2 win by
Vitek Subert over Fabian Neff at the four line brought Woods back within one point, with
Felix Diedrichs squaring the match with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Bryson Crowell, just before the rains hit.
At the five line,
Andres De Los Rios Kolejewska had managed to answer a 7-6(4) first-set loss by taking Alejandro Bravo Diaz to 6-6 in the second set and forcing another seven-point tiebreak. After the first four points of the tiebreak went in the books, lightning was detected nearby, forcing the players from the court. Play was eventually able to resume, with De Los Rios Kolejewska taking the first point from the resumption to lead 3-2, but lightning was again detected and the match was halted.
The Owls continue their brief venture into southwest Missouri on Friday, taking on Drury University at noon.
