St. Louis, MO -- The Principia Men's Tennis Team took on the Westminster College Blue Jays this afternoon in the SLIAC Semi-Finals at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis. Principia entered the tournament as the 1st seed, while Westminster was the 4th seed. Westminster was the last team to defeat Principia in the SLIAC Tournament, back in 2013. In the regular season, Principia defeated the Blue Jays 9-0, and today was no different. In the tournament, matches are played to completion, and Principia earned the 5-0 victory. After three doubles wins, Principia only needed two singles victories to move on to the Finals. The first match completed was at 4th singles, with
Nat Kenworthy dominating his opponent 6-0, 6-1. There were three matches vying to be the clinching match, and in the end it was
Greg Sovie at 3rd singles who came away with the 6-2, 6-0 victory. Both
Jules Kitchingman at 2nd singles and
Brody Swan at 5th singles held match points at the time their matches were called.
Inside the Box Score:
Principia vs. Westminster:
(Doubles match winners are in bold)
1st Doubles:
Wyatt Dale / Greg Sovie vs. Adam Fuchs / Pete Hasenmueller 8-3
2nd Doubles:
Jules Kitchingman / Nat Kenworthy vs. Phillip Udinyiwe / Joshua Udinyiwe 8-0
3rd Doubles:
Brody Swan / Peter Griswold vs. Nick Lakowski / Giovanni Stricklan 8-2
(Singles match winners are in bold)
1.
Wyatt Dale vs. Adam Fuchs 6-4, 2-0 Unfinished
2.
Jules Kitchingman vs. Pete Hasenmueller 6-1, 5-0 Unfinished
3.
Greg Sovie vs. Phillip Udinyiwe 6-2, 6-0
4.
Nat Kenworthy vs. Giovanni Stricklan 6-0, 6-1
5.
Brody Swan vs. Joshua Udinyiwe 6-2, 5-0 Unfinished
6.
Dan Wagstaff vs. Nick Lakowski 4-3 Unfinished
News and Notes:
Principia is looking for their 5th straight SLIAC Championship and 6th in 7th years. They won in 2012, but lost to Wesminster in 2013, as Westminster took home the title. That was the last loss for Principia in tournament play. Principia and Westminster are the only two schools to have won the SLIAC Men's Tennis Championship.
Up Next:
The Panthers move on to the SLIAC Championship Saturday at 11:00 AM at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park. They will play the Greenville Panthers, marking the 4th straight Championship match between the two schools. If you are in the area, come out and support Principia Men's Tennis!
