Elsah, IL - Men's Tennis hosted Simpson College in what largely served as a tune-up match for next week's rumble against DePauw.
The top two doubles courts never got interesting as the Panthers didn't let up a game at either spot.
William Johnson and
Elliott Matthiesen took care of business after a shaky start at number three. It was an encouraging result for the two, as their opponent today had beaten a team to which Johnson and Matthiesen previously lost.
Wyatt Dale narrowly beat out
Daniel Gomez as the first match to finish, and
Greg Sovie followed soon after for the team's third routine singles win.
Juan Segovia cruised through the first set and began to give Simpson some life in the second, but soon turned his play around to grab his second win of the day. Johnson's match followed a similar path, and he also served out the match up 5-4 in the second set.
Matthiesen got himself into easily the most exciting match of the day at 6th singles, even if it didn't go his way in the late stages. A back-and-forth first set culminated in a tiebreak that he narrowly lost, but he flipped the script late in the second set. Coming back from down 5-2, Matthiesen saved three match points and ripped off five straight games to take the set and force a ten-point tiebreak. Though he came up short as the last match on court, it was an admirable effort from the junior.
The Panthers face their toughest test of the young season with a trip to regionally ranked DePauw on Saturday, along with a matchup against Anderson University.
Box Score (winners in bold):
1
st doubles:
Wyatt Dale/Greg Sovie vs Reade Reiter/Brett Dewerff 8-0
2
nd:
Daniel Gomez/Juan Segovia vs Matt Turnley/Ethan Humble 8-0
3
rd:
William Johnson/Elliott Matthiesen vs Aaron Price/Caleb Vasconez 8-4
1
st singles:
#14 Gomez vs Reiter 6-1, 6-2
2
nd:
Dale vs Dewerff 6-2, 6-0
3
rd:
Sovie vs Turnley 6-2, 6-0
4
th:
Segovia vs Price 6-1, 6-4
5
th:
Johnson vs Humble 6-1, 6-4
6
th: Matthiesen vs
Vasconez 7-6(5), 5-7, 10-6
Final: Principia 8-1
