Wabash won all but 11 of the 107 total games of tennis played Thursday night at the Collett Tennis Center between the Little Giants and the Franklin College Grizzlies. The Little Giants took a 9-0 victory in their opening match of the 2008 season.
Freshman Luke Robbins (right) and junior Sean Clerget started the year off on the right foot with an 8-1 victory at number three doubles. Less than a minute after they stepped off the court, junior Jay Horrey and freshman Will Pelak finished number one doubles with an 8-2 win. The freshmen duo of Luke Bielawski and Ryan Tennyson completed the doubles domination with an 8-2 victory in the second flight.
Pelak lost only one game in a 6-1, 6-0 two-set victory at number one singles. Bielawski scored a 6-1, 6-1 win at second singles.
Horrey, who missed the fall portion of the season along with Clerget while both studied overseas, showed his return to the form that earned him North Coast Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year honors two years ago by scoring a 6-1, 6-2 win in the third singles flight. Tennyson (left) was perfect at fourth singles with a 6-0, 6-0 win. Ricky Ritter matched Tennyson's effort with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at fifth singles, as did Jacob Castilow with 6-0, 6-0 win at sixth singles.
"I am very happy with the way my guys played in our first varsity match," head coach Jason Hutchison said. "I encouraged them to get out to an early lead and stay focused throughout the match. Each player did just that.
"I'm also very impressed with the way my freshmen stepped up in the first collegiate dual match. Now they've gotten their feet wet. They'll have to dive into a very diffucult set of matches Saturday."
Those matches will come against Kenyon at 9 a.m. and Transylvania at 4 p.m. or shortly after Kenyon and Transylvania play around 1 p.m. All three matches take place at the Collett Tennis Center.