HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Union College men's tennis team came a supertiebreaker short of finishing their 2023 Spring Break trip with an undefeated record, falling to Oberlin College in a 5-4 heartbreaker on Wednesday morning at Hilton Head Beach and Tennis Club.
 
The day started well for Union (3-5) at first doubles, with junior Dimitris Binopoulos and sophomore Ben Jacobs combining for an 8-1 win over James Dill and Grant North to put Union ahead. However, Oberlin (6-5) came back to take the final two doubles contests to lead 2-1 headed into singles play.
 
Union bounced back in singles, getting wins from seniors Aidan O'Brien and Thomas McGuire to take back the lead. O'Brien posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Sebastien Naginski at fourth singles to knot the score, and McGuire followed up with a tidy 6-2, 6-2 victory over James Foster at the sixth flight. After Oberlin took a point at second singles, sophomore Ian Schunk followed by outlasting Dill in a supertiebreaker, 6-1, 2-6, (10-7) to give Union its fourth point of the day.
 
Needing to win one of the final two matches, Union came up heartbreakingly short in both contests. Jacobs came a break short in the first set and four points short in a second-set tiebreaker in a close 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) loss to Sean Billerbeck at the top flight. The final match of the day went to a supertiebreaker after junior Khai Ton and Shawn Lisann split the first two sets, with Lisann taking home the victory in a 3-6, 6-4, (10-1) comeback win at third singles.
 
Union will head back to Schenectady to prepare for the opening weekend of the spring conference season, which begins on Saturday, April 1 against Ithaca College at 2 p.m. at the Union Tennis Courts.