St. Louis, MO -- The Principia Men's Tennis Team took on Greenville University in the 4th consecutive 'Battle of the Panthers' in the SLIAC Championship today at Dwight Davis Tennis Center. The Principia Panthers were looking for their 5th consecutive Men's Tennis SLIAC Championship, while the Greenville Panthers were looking for their 1st Men's Tennis SLIAC Championship in school history. In what proved to be an extremely quality championship match, the Principia Panthers were able to play some of their best tennis of the season in the biggest moments, coming away with the 5-2 victory and taking home the SLIAC Championship.
The match started with doubles, where it was Greenville that came out strong, taking it to Principia in the early stages of the match. At 2nd doubles,
Jules Kitchingman and
Nat Kenworthy were locked in some hard fought games in the beginning of the match. After being tied at 2-2, Kitchingman and Kenworthy stepped their game up and took control of the match. They came away with the 8-4 victory. At 3rd doubles,
Brody Swan and
Peter Griswold ran into a team from Greenville clicking on all cylinders. Most games went to deuce, but in the end, it was the team from Greenville who came away victorious, as Swan and Griswold fell 8-2. At 1st doubles,
Wyatt Dale and
Greg Sovie fell behind early 3-0. After the changeover, Dale and Sovie picked themselves up and played their best doubles of the year as they reeled off seven straight games. Greenville fought to make it close, but Principia served it out as they were able to eek out the 8-6 win. This gave Principia the 2-1 advantage going into singles, where they would need three matches to earn the SLIAC Championship.
In singles, Principia came out ready to play from the beginning. At 2nd singles,
Jules Kitchingman was the first to finish his match. Kitchingman played flawlessly throughout, mixing in both defense and offense, while executing perfectly. He gave Principia the 3-1 lead with his 6-1, 6-0 victory. Next to finish was
Greg Sovie at 3rd singles. Sovie played his attacking brand of tennis, and executed his game play perfectly. His chip and charge tactic continually gave his opponent trouble, as Sovie dominated at net on his way to the 6-0, 6-0 win. This gave Principia the 4-1 advantage, as they only needed 1 more victory for the win.
At 6th singles,
Dan Wagstaff was next to finish. Wagstaff played a great second set, and gave himself opportunities to take the match to a third set. However, he was unable to come away with the crucial games as he fell 6-2, 7-5, making the match score 4-2. The championship clinching match came at 4th singles, with
Nat Kenworthy earning the victory. Kenworthy played an excellent first set, but in the second set, his opponent began to raise his level of play. After falling behind 5-4 in the second set, Kenworthy played the next three games perfectly, closing out the match 6-1, 7-5, giving Principia the 5-2 win and their 4th consecutive SLIAC Championship.
The two matches that were left unfinished were 1st and 5th singles. At 1st singles,
Wyatt Dale struggled to find his rhythm, falling behing 6-3, 3-0. However, at that very moment, Dale turned it on, taking the next six games to tie the match, 3-6, 6-3. At 5th singles,
Brody Swan came out on fire, taking the first set 6-2. However, his opponent really played remarkably well in the second set to tie the match 6-2, 2-6. Both Dale and Swan were ready to begin their third sets as the match was completed.
Inside the Box Score:
Principia vs. Greenville:
(Doubles match winners are in bold)
1st Doubles:
Wyatt Dale / Greg Sovie vs. Nate Wieland / Justin Tilford 8-6
2nd Doubles:
Jules Kitchingman / Nat Kenworthy vs. Zach Plocher / Daniel Pieplow 8-4
3rd Doubles:
Brody Swan /
Peter Griswold vs.
Gabe Munoz / Austin Burkhart 8-2
(Singles match winners are in bold)
1.
Wyatt Dale vs. Nate Wieland 3-6, 6-3 Unfinished
2.
Jules Kitchingman vs. Gabe Munoz 6-1, 6-0
3.
Greg Sovie vs. Daniel Pieplow 6-0, 6-0
4.
Nat Kenworthy vs. Zach Plocher 6-1, 7-5
5.
Brody Swan vs. Justin Tilford 6-2, 2-6 Unfinished
6.
Dan Wagstaff vs.
Austin Burkhart 6-2, 7-5
News and Notes:
Principia has now won 6 out of 7 SLIAC Championships, including the last 5 in a row. This is a tremendous accomplishment for the Panthers as they continue to build on the Men's Tennis Legacy that was established long ago.
Up Next:
Principia finishes the season with a record of 13-6, including being 6-0 in SLIAC play. The Panthers graduate no Seniors from this year and are looking forward to defending their title next season. Post season awards will be announced next week.
