Alva Review-Courier -

SEARCY, Ark. – In a rags-to-riches turnaround, Oklahoma Baptist's Bison tennis team is the undefeated Great American Conference champion after downing Harding 6-3 Saturday.

OBU went winless in the GAC schedule last season and undefeated in 2017 for a worst-to-first turnaround for Coach Peter McCorkle in his swan song season. McCorkle will join the tennis staff at Oral Roberts next season.

"I'm just so pumped right now for our guys," said OBU Coach Peter McCorkle. "I know there are only three other teams in our league but they're all ranked and this is a tough league. They showed so much heart."

The Bison are a considerably young team with three freshmen – Kevin Andrusch, Matias Le Fort and Gianluca Galdi playing pivotal roles.

"We maybe won four matches – and I'm not talking about team matches – in conference last year," said McCorkle. "These freshmen have made a big difference. We're talking about a freshman at No. 1 in Kevin who went undefeated in conference, and Gianluca too."

OBU found itself down 1-0 in doubles before Thomas Ackerknecht and Luis Romero claimed an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles. Then Matias Le Fort and Lucas Castelo Branco rallied to take a 9-8 (7-1) win at No. 3 doubles.

That bounce back triggered a strong showing in singles, where Castelo Branco led 6-0, 3-0 before his opponent retired at No. 2 singles to make it a 3-1 match score.

Andrusch dominated, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 singles for a 4-1 OBU edge.

Ackerknecht, a senior, got the hero moment with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 5 singles for the match and conference championship-clinching 5-2 lead. Ackerknecht was 3-0 in both doubles and singles in conference this season.

Galdi won by default in the third set. After falling 6-1 in the opening set, Galdi won 6-2 in the second set and led 1-0 in the third before the match was retired.

Now 16-5 overall and 3-0 in the GAC, the Bison are the No. 1 seed in next weekend's Great American Conference Tournament and will again play Harding.

OBU will conclude the regular season with a Senior Day match against Seminole State College at OBU a week from Tuesday at 2 p.m. Seniors Ackerknecht, Ian Sims and Michael Vetter will be recognized at about 1:50 p.m.