By Tim Glon

GAMBIER — The Ohio Northern men's tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA III Central Region Tournament with a 5-1 victory over Transylvania (Ky.) in the first round of the NCAA III Central Regional at Kenyon.

The Polar Bears improve to 18-4, while the Pioneers end their season at 16-6.

Ohio Northern advances to the second round and will face No. 9-ranked tournament host Kenyon at 4 pm Saturday.

Northern's victory was its first in NCAA Tournament play in only its second appearance, as the Polar Bears also participated in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, falling to DePauw (Ind.) in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Senior Bart Schenck and freshman Jeff Carter each won twice to lead the Polar Bears on Friday.

Schenck teammed with senior Micah Scott to win 8-2 at No. 1 doubles, then defeated Lee Gammon 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2 singles to put ONU up 4-0.

Carter then defeated Clinton Colliver 6-2, 6-3 at No. 6 singles to wrap up the victory.

The Polar Bears swept the doubles play to take a quick 3-0 lead.

Seniors Jay Viayda and Ryan Paul won 8-6 at No. 2 doubles and senior Thomas Major and Carter won 8-5 at No. 3 doubles.

"I'm very happy for our guys to get a win in the NCAA Tournament," ONU head coach Glenn Scheutzow said. "We played very well today and defeated a good team. Our guys work hard every day in practice and they deserve all the good things that are happening to them."

The match, which started outdoors at 4 pm, was moved indoors to the Kenyon Athletic Center at 5:40 pm after a line of strong thunderstoems swept through the area.

After a 10-minute delay, play got underway on the four indoor courts, where the match was completed.

No. 27-ranked Kalamazoo (Mich.) also won a first round match on Friday morning, topping Wilkes (Pa.) 5-0.

No. 27-ranked Kalamazoo (Mich.) will face No. 16-ranked Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) Saturday at 11 am in the other second round contest.

The finals are slated for Sunday at 1 pm.