Greenville, ILL. -- The latest installment of the Principia-Greenville tennis rivalry featured a level of domination unmatched in recent years. While the good guys came in prepared and as favorites coming off last season's 5-2 victory in the conference championship, they understood that the opposing Panthers wouldn't go away easily.
Wyatt Dale and
Greg Sovie zoomed out to a 6-0 start at first doubles on their way to a convincing win.
Daniel Gomez and
Brody Swan took care of business with a routine victory on court three, and
Jules Kitchingman and
Nat Kenworthy gradually ground the competition down at the second spot to complete the doubles sweep. This marks the first time since the 2017 SLIAC final that the team earned a 3-0 lead after doubles play.
Kitchingman took home a first place finish in singles with his great baseline play and never let up a game. Gomez bounced back from a physically and emotionally tough loss yesterday and was overwhelming at the top spot, also providing the clinching fifth win. The boys spent the rest of the match on the high side and kept handing out Ls, as no one dropped even a set.
Greenville had no answer for Dale's big serve and beautiful volleys at number two, and Sovie crunched his overheads on all the lobs thrown his way in the windy conditions. Swan rode his serve and earned enough breaks for a close but solid win at 6
th singles, and Kenworthy brought the brooms out with his victory on court five to finish the 9-0 sweep.
Fontbonne is next up on Thursday, a scheduled away match that may be moved home in case of rain.
Box Score (winners in bold):
1
st doubles:
Wyatt Dale/Greg Sovie vs Daniel Pieplow/Zach Plocher 8-1
2
nd:
Jules Kitchingman/Nat Kenworthy vs Justin Tilford/Tyler Blume 8-5
3
rd:
Daniel Gomez/Brody Swan vs Austin Burkhart/Mathew Rodriguez 8-3
1
st singles:
Gomez vs Pieplow 6-0, 6-3
2
nd:
Dale vs Plocher 6-3, 6-2
3
rd:
Sovie vs Tilford 6-2, 6-1
4
th:
Kitchingman vs Burkhart 6-1, 6-0
5
th:
Kenworthy vs Blume 6-3, 6-2
6
th:
Swan vs Rodriguez 6-4, 6-3
