Elsah, IL- Today was Senior Day for Principia Men's Tennis, as they took on Greenville College in a battle for 1st place in the SLIAC.
Jason Wissman,
Nate Waters,
Andrew Rohrer and
Vernon West were honored as they played the final home match of their Principia Career. These seniors have been the cornerstones of Principia's resurgence to the top of the SLIAC. The accolades of this class include a SLIAC Newcomer of the Year, 2 SLIAC Player of the Year Awards, and many 1st Team All Conference Awards. These seniors proved their worth again in today's matchup as the Panthers defeated Greenville 7-2 to secure the regular season SLIAC Championship and the 1st seed in the SLIAC tournament.
At 1st doubles,
Joey Sander and
Nate Waters played solid throughout their match. They took control of the net and gave their opponent very few free points. Sander and Waters won 8-2. At 2nd doubles,
Jason Wissman and
Daniel Drake started slow, getting broken in the first game of the match. From then on, it was all Panthers as Wissman and Drake played excellent the rest of the way. Using their big serves to keep Greenville on the defensive, Wissman and Drake earned a 8-3 victory. At 3rd doubles,
Andrew Rohrer and
Nicholas Flanders played a great match against a tough opponent. Rohrer and Flanders fought to the end, but were unable to match the consistency of Greenville in the big points. Rohrer and Flanders fell in a heartbreaker 9-7.
At 1st singles,
Jason Wissman dominated from the beginning as he used his deep groundstrokes to gain early control of the points. Wissman dominated most points from the baseline to earn his 6-2, 6-0 victory. At 2nd singles,
Joey Sander found his rhythm early as he was able to jump on top of his opponent. Sander was able to rally from the baseline and close out his points at the net. Sander won 6-1, 6-0. At 3rd singles,
Nate Waters played very well in his first set. Waters was able to keep his opponent from attacking with his heavy groundstrokes. In the second set, Waters fell behind 5-2 as his opponent stepped up his game and Waters started making a few errors. Fortunately, he was able to find his game just in time to reel of five straight games to close out the match with a 6-1, 7-5 victory.
At 4th singles,
Daniel Drake came out aggressively, using his serve and attacking forehand to put pressure on his opponent. Drake never lost control of the match as he won 6-3, 6-2. At 5th singles,
Andrew Rohrer used his speed and ball placement to gain the advantage over his opponent. Rohrer played many long points, coming away on the positive end of many of them. He was able to earn the 6-3, 6-3 victory. At 6th singles,
Nicholas Flanders was unable to find his groove early in the match. By the time Flanders settled down and was able to put the ball in play, it was a little too late. Flanders fell 6-2, 6-3.
Principia next plays on Saturday April 18th at 11:00 AM against Missouri Baptist. The match will be played at Missouri Baptist and will be the final regular season match for the Panthers as they gear up for the SLIAC Tournament.
Principia Greenville Winner Score1st Doubles
Joey Sander vs Jon Urshan Prin 8-2
Nate Waters Alex Dowley
2nd Doubles
Jason Wissman vs Nate Wieland Prin 8-3
Daniel Drake Demetrius Bush
3rd Doubles
Andrew Rohrer vs Code Power GC 9-7
Nicholas Flanders Justin McDonald
1st Singles
Jason Wissman vs Nate Wieland Prin 6-2, 6-0
2nd Singles
Joey Sander vs Jon Urshan Prin 6-1, 6-0
3rd Singles
Nate Waters vs Code Power Prin 6-1, 7-5
4th Singles
Daniel Drake vs Demetrius Bush Prin 6-3, 6-2
5th Singles
Andrew Rohrer vs Alex Dowley Prin 6-3, 6-3
6th Singles
Nicholas Flanders vs Justin McDonald GC 6-2, 6-3
Ex. Singles
Vernon West vs Chris Heckman GC 8-5
