Lexington, KY. – Sam Hodgson and Joshua Buckman teamed up to score one point for Transylvania in doubles play and then took care of business in their singles matches to guide the Pioneers men's tennis team to a 5-4 win against Hanover on Wednesday.

Dakota Smith and Reid Clark did enough to slide by Robert Albrecht and Zachary Meikle 9 to 7 in the #1 doubles match, but Transylvania seized victories in #2 and #3 doubles matches to forge ahead with the upper hand into the singles portion of the evening at the Transylvania Tennis Complex on campus.

Dylan Conner and Luke Groene fought off Brent Barrett and Andrew Fox in an 8-5 #2 doubles win, while Hodgson and Buckman collected the most sizable doubles result of Wednesday, winning 8 to 4 over Alec Bates and Seth Wallace.

In #1 singles, Brent Barrett went the distance against Robert Albrecht, holding off the Transylvania senior in three sets, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 to gather a point for Hanover. The Panthers inched closer to a favorable result when Dakota Smith fought off Meikle 7-6 in the first set winning a 7-3 tiebreaker, then taking the second set, 6 to 3 to win the #2 doubles battle.

Hanover increased pressure as Andrew Fox took the first set from Dylan Conner 6 to 4 in #3 singles and Conner was forced to retire early in the second set. But Transylvania engineered a supreme turnaround on the second leg of their singles matches as Buckman defeated Clark 6-2, 6-4 in #4 singles action and Groene won a thriller over Bates, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in #5 singles. Sam Hodgson helped the Pioneers turn the tide by defeating Alex Kitchel 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 in a hard-fought two-set win to upend Hanover 5 to 4 for the evening.

With the huge team victory, Transylvania next returns to the court on Saturday, April 16 as they visit Anderson University. The meet is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m.