ELSAH, ILL. -- The Principia men's tennis team played two matches today against some tough opponents. The first opponent of the day was familiar SLIAC foe, Greenville College. Although this was not a conference match, the Panther's were certainly looking to come out of the match with a victory. Greenville has vastly improved from last year, and that was certainly evident by the match score. In the end, Principia prevailed by a score of 5-4.
At 1
st doubles,
Joey Sander and
Jason Wissman got the Panthers started off right with a hard fought, 8-4 victory over Greenville's 1
st doubles team.
At 2
nd doubles,
Kevin Hagenlocher and
Kenny Sydness teamed up together for the first time this year. Although they did a lot of good things, they fell short and lost 8-4.
At 3
rd doubles,
Andrew Rohrer and
Aaron Switzer were unable to keep the match competitive and lost by a score of 8-1.
In singles, Principia took care of business at 1
st-3
rd singles. At 1
st singles,
Joey Sander played very consistent tennis and won 6-0, 6-1. At 2
nd singles,
Jason Wissman found his groove and finally broke his big serving opponent to win the first set 6-4. He cruised in the final set to win 6-4, 6-1. At 3
rd singles,
Kevin Hagenlocher had no trouble with his opponent and took the match by a score of 6-1, 6-1.
At 6
th singles,
Andrew Fields came through and played some of his best tennis of the season. He was extremely consistent with his ground strokes, and made his opponent work very hard if he was going to lose a point. Fields consistent effort gained him an important victory by a score of 6-3, 6-1.
The second opponent for Principia was Lewis and Clark. They knew this would be a tough opponent, and that proved to be true on the court. Despite giving it their best effort, Principia lost 6-3 to Lewis and Clark.
The 1
st doubles team of
Joey Sander and
Jason Wissman played some good doubles, but it was not quite enough to come away with the win. They ended up losing in a tiebreaker by a score of 9-8 (5).
At 2
nd doubles,
Kevin Hagenlocher and
Kenny Sydness played an even better match than their morning one against Greenville. After being up 3-1, they were unable to hold onto the lead and lost by a score of 8-5.
For the Lewis and Clark match, the 3
rd doubles team was switched to
Andrew Rohrer and
Andrew Fields. This proved to be an important switch, as the two Andrew's battled from being down 6-3, to win in a tiebreaker by a score of 9-8 (7).
In singles, the top performances for the Panthers were at 1
st and 2
nd singles. At 1
st singles,
Joey Sander played great tennis and won 6-2, 6-0. At 2
nd singles,
Jason Wissman came back from being down 5-2 in the 1
st set to win that set and the match by a score of 7-5, 6-2.
It was a good day of learning and growth for the Panther tennis team, as they strive to get better to defend their SLIAC Championship. They have two weeks of practice before going to Orlando, Florida for Spring Break matches.
