ATLANTA, Ga. – On arguably the hottest day in which the Lynx have played a match all season, Oglethorpe took an important conference match this late in the season. 
 
With a win, the Lynx could have made a legitimate case for second place in the Southern Athletic Association regular season standings, but could not overcome a Stormy Petrel squad that looked more than comfortable on their home courts under the hot sun.
 
Rhodes neglected to get out to a strong start, falling in all three of the doubles matches despite valiant efforts from Colin Perry and Eliot Blatt on court one, and Daniel Olivier and Albert Vacheron on court three. 
 
"Oglethorpe played great doubles and beat us on all three courts.," said assistant coach Ryan Dodd.   "There wasn't a whole lot we could do to stop them other than eliminate our own mistakes."
 
Singles play proved to be just as difficult for the Lynx although there were times where they looked as if they could rebound and take five points from the home team.  Graham Sowden played an incredibly gutsy match at line five, dropping a heartbreaking tiebreaker in the first set and coming back to win in a super tiebreaker in the third.  Almost just as painful was Daniel Olivier's first set as he fell 12-10 in the opening set tiebreaker and could not regain his composure against a strong line six Oglethorpe opponent.
 
Against No. 24 Regionally Ranked CJ Antonio, Eliot Blatt took the first set and looked like he would fire on all cylinders for the remainder of the match.  However, with his teammates experiencing difficulties with their matches, Eliot was not able to maintain his focus and dropped the second and third sets uncharacteristically, 6-1, 6-1.
 
The Lynx will try to avenge this loss and solidify a top-four seed in the conference tournament April 13 in Rome, Ga. against Berry College at 9 a.m.
 
Rhodes College 1, Oglethorpe University 8
April 12, 2014
Peter Howell Tennis Courts
Atlanta, GA
Singles Competition
CJ Antonio (OU) def. Eliot Blatt (RC) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
Benjamin Hirsch (OU) def. Colin Perry (RC) 6-1, 6-4
Nick Roby (OU) def. Albert Vacheron (RC) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
Kirk Zhao (OU) def. Greyson Brilliant (RC) 6-0, 6-4
Graham Sowden (RC) def. Cedric Andre (OU) 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)
Matt Jones (OU) def. Daniel Olivier (RC) 7-6 (12-10), 6-1
 
Doubles Competition
Roby/Antonio (OU) def. Blatt/Perry (RC) 8-6
Hirsch/Andre (OU) def. Sowden/Brilliant (RC) 8-2
Zhao/Jones (OU) def. Vacheron/Olivier (RC) 8-4
 
Match Notes
Rhodes College 9-6 (3-3); No. 16 Regional Ranking
Oglethorpe University 11-8 (5-1); No. 11 Regional Ranking
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1) Singles (4, 2, 3, 1, 5, 6)