CLINTON, N.Y. – The Union College men's tennis team nearly pulled off some late-match heroics once again on Wednesday evening, but the Dutchmen came up just short in a 5-4 loss to Hamilton College at the Tietje Tennis Center.
 
Senior Cameron Klepper continued his recent hot streak with two more victories to lead Union (4-6) on Wednesday. He and sophomore Bailey McAtee ran their third-doubles winning streak to five matches with an 8-5 win over Nicolas Gritz and Gianni Esposito, while Klepper also made quick work of Mark Apsey in their sixth-singles matchup, 6-0, 6-1, to win his fourth straight.
 
Down 2-1 after doubles play, Union once again mounted a comeback on the singles court. Klepper's sixth-singles win evened the match at two, but wins for Hamilton at first and fourth singles put the Continentals on the brink of victory.
 
First-years Ian Schunk and Ben Jacobs put the celebration on hold with a pair of gutty three-set victories. Schunk gave Union its third point with a hard-fought 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 win over Esposito at fifth singles, followed soon after by Jacobs storming back from a set down to defeat Eric Stein, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
 
In what turned out to be the deciding match, junior Aidan O'Brien came up a few points short in a first-set tiebreaker against Joe Reiner and needed one more break in the second set of his 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 third-singles matchup.
 
The Dutchmen will begin a stretch of five straight Liberty League matches on Sunday with a 10 a.m. first serve at Hobart College.