WINCHESTER, Va. - The Shenandoah University men's tennis team has clinched its first-ever berth into the ODAC Tournament thanks to a 5-4 decision over Emory and Henry Sunday afternoon.

The Hornets (8-7, 3-6 ODAC) now are in sole possession of eighth place in the league with one match to play in the conference slate.

Emory & Henry (5-10, 2-7) is the only school capable of catching SU for eighth, but the Hornets now hold the head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to Sunday's win.

Shenandoah started the match with two wins in the three doubles matches - Steven Baker and Jesse Ewing opened the day with an 8-1 win at No. 1 while Blake Sharp and Kelly Sykes gutted out a 9-7 victory at No. 2 after Will Leach and Zach O'Neal had fallen 8-6 at No. 3.

Wins from Leach at No. 5 and Matt Hwang at No. 4 put the Hornets one point from clinching, and Baker took care of it by winning 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 at No. 1 over John Dalton Ferguson.

The final two matches, E&H wins at Nos. 3 and 6, both involved tiebreakers. Sharp fell 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7) to Alex Polydorff at No. 3 and O'Neal 7-6 (4), 6-4 to Eric Logan at No. 6.

Leach won his match 6-0, 6-1 and Hwang 6-3, 6-3.

Shenandoah completes its regular season this week with a non-league match against Ferrum and a ODAC contest versus Randolph.

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