ELSAH, IL – The Principia Men's Tennis team welcomed the Simpson College Storm and the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans to Hexberg for an early season tri-match on Saturday. In their matchups last season, the Panthers defeated the Storm 7-2 and the Titans 5-4, and they hoped to have similar success this year with four new faces in the starting lineup.
Simpson College traveled down from Iowa for a morning match with the Panthers. Like Principia, Simpson has a handful of new players, so both teams came in ready to prove themselves. The Panthers had a determined spirit about them from the get-go, and began by sweeping the doubles to give the squad a 3-0 lead going into the singles.
The remainder of the match moved along swiftly with Principia besting five of the six singles matches to clinch the dual match, 8-1. The Panthers' only loss occurred at the #2 singles position at the hands of Simpson's newest international student, Javier Robles. Robles faced fellow freshman, Álvaro Martín Moliz, and the two battled a hard-fought match that went to a super tiebreak after trading sets. Robles was able to close out the tiebreak 10-6 for the Storm's lone victory of the day.
In the late afternoon match of the day's doubleheader, Principia faced the hard-hitting, talented men from Illinois Wesleyan. The Panthers knew that the Titans could not be underestimated, so they agreed to put their minds to the task and battle to the finish no matter the outcome. And battle they did.
Beginning with the doubles, the Titans came out swinging and challenging the Panthers to face a level of competition they'd not yet faced this season. With little separating them, the Panthers found a new gear in their spirit and rose to the occasion by sweeping all three doubles matches again with scores of 8-4, 8-5, and 8-4, respectively.
Although with a 3-0 lead going into singles, the Principia men knew their work was not finished. Illinois Wesleyan had every bit of means to muscle a comeback, and the Panthers could not afford an attitude of coasting to a win. The Titans showed what they were made of indeed with closely fought matches where the scores never really tell the story. In the end, however, the Panthers continued their raise their level of play by closing out the match win with their second 8-1 win of the day.
The best match of day came at #4 singles between freshman Jesús Soto Bossa and the Titans' Ben Vigneri. After Vigneri took the first set 7-5, Bossa played with the heart of a lion, fighting off three match points in the second set to push it to 6-6 tiebreak. Bossa would take the tiebreak 7-4 to even the match and force the deciding 10-point tiebreak. With all other matches finished and all their teammates now watching, both players were determined to rise above the other. Gutsy points went back-and-forth as the mid-point of the super came tied at 5-5. Bossa would gain the momentum for there, and he ultimately prevailed 10-6 to win his match. Overall, it was a great day for the Panthers, who went 16-2 in the double header and improved to 3-0 in 2023.
Up Next: The Panthers will play two home matches next weekend, as both the men and women host Hendrix College on Friday and Rose-Hulman on Saturday. Come out and support!
