CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — The Earlham College men's tennis team picked up its second straight win on Wednesday night as the Quakers defeated Wabash College 7-2 in a non-conference match.

"We stepped it up," said Earlham Head Coach Adam Van Zee, who graduated from Wabash in 2007. "This is a big win for our program because Wabash is perennially ranked in the region at the end of most seasons."

Wednesday's victory was Earlham's first over Wabash since 2006 when the Quakers defeated the Little Giants 4-3 in Richmond during Van Zee's junior season as a player. The Quakers last beat Wabash in Crawfordsville in 2005 by a 5-2 score.

Earlham started the match by leading 2-1 after the doubles competition. The Little Giants (6-3) won at No. 3 doubles before the Quakers came back with two victories.

"The past three years we have not been able to get any points in doubles," Van Zee said. "To come away with two wins was a huge momentum boost."

Hank Levin (Dallas, TX, Highland Park) and Anton Bartashevich (Moscow, Russia, International) beat Wade Miller and Peter Gunderman 8-3 at No. 1. Brad Maisey (Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, Tauranga Boys) and Andrey Gavrilov (Yaroslavl, Russia, Universal) followed with an 8-4 win over Daniel Delgado and Nate Koelper at No. 2.

Wabash tied the match with a win at No. 6 singles, but victories by Bartashevich and Levin in singles put the Quakers back on top.

Bartashevich defeated Miller 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1, while Levin fell behind in the first set before bouncing back to post a 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 win over Delgado at No. 2.

Gavrilov clinched the match with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Gunderman at No. 3 singles.

Maisey and Scott Lawrence (Letchworth, England, Cheam) added to the team's win. Maisey won a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Ian Leonard at No. 4 singles. After dropping the opening set at No. 5 singles, Lawrence came back with 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7) victory over Koelper.

The Quakers (5-1) face Capital University next Wednesday at the Dayton Center Courts.

"We have one more match until spring break," Van Zee said. "Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going."
 
The non-conference affair gets underway at 4:30 p.m.

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