Elsah, Ill
This afternoon, the Principia Men's Tennis Team faced the Westminster Blue Jays in a SLIAC match up for second place in the conference. The Panthers came out on a mission to start strong in doubles, and were able to accomplish that as they ran out to a 3-0 lead after doubles play. From there it was smooth sailing for the Panthers, as they came away with the 9-0 victory over the Blue Jays.
At 1st doubles,
Joey Sander and
Brody Swan used big serves to dominate their service games. They were able to play consistently enough on their returns to earn two breaks of serve in the match as they came away with the 8-4 win. At 2nd doubles,
Jules Kitchingman and
Aaron Switzer started off playing extremely well, going up 4-1. After a brief lull in their games, they quickly hit their stride again on their way to the 8-5 win. At 3rd doubles,
Nat Kenworthy and
Doug DuFur continued their stellar play as they transitioned very well from the baseline to the net throughout the match. Despite starting slow, they finished strong, coming away with the 8-2 win.
At 1st singles,
Joey Sander took care of business with his all court game, winning 6-0, 6-0. At 4th singles,
Brody Swan used his monster serve to dictate play throughout the match. He won 6-0, 6-2. At 5th singles,
Aaron Switzer played some of the best tennis he has played all season on his way to the 6-0, 6-0 victory. At 6th singles,
Dan Wagstaff continued his improved play by dictating points with his big serve and hard hitting groundstrokes. Wagstaff won 6-0, 6-3.
The two toughest matches came at 2nd and 3rd singles. At 2nd singles,
Jules Kitchingman played against a tough and steady opponent. They played grueling points all match long, but in the end, it was Kitchingman who came away with the hard earned victory, 6-4, 7-5. At 3rd singles,
Nat Kenworthy also played against a very tough opponent. Kenworthy was able to earn a tough first set, but fell into some trouble in the second set. Kenworthy saved one set point when down 3-5 and another set point at 4-5. After tying the set at 5-5, Kenworthy played some fantastic tennis to earn the final two games, winning 6-4, 7-5.
The Panthers move to 3-1 in SLIAC play, securing the 2nd seed in the SLIAC Tournament. They play next on Tuesday April 19th at 5:00 PM at Principia College.
