Lawrence University’s Men’s Tennis team fell to a 5-2 defeat against Illinois College (IC) on what was a sunny afternoon at the Lawrence Courts in Appleton. The result sees the Vikings end the day with a 7-13 record (1-2 in conference).
Senior Andrew Larson and first-year Benjamin Hoppe put on a show in the first doubles fixture against IC pair Jeff Wernsing and Glenn Conway. Lawrence’s dynamic duo rose high to a 6-2 win, setting the stage for sophomores Owen Horton and Xander Priest to continue the streak in the following game. The second doubles match, however, was more difficult, with Horton and Priest suffering defeat in what was a reverse of the first scoreline, 2-6. In the final doubles contest, sophomores Gabriel Garcia and Will Phillips battled fiercely with Illinois College’s Grayson Dupre and Titus Ashford. Despite a series’ worth of pressure from the Vikings, the traveling team found victory in a 6-3 scoreline and ultimately set the doubles series in IC’s favour, 2-1.
Larson and Horton were the real bright sparks in Lawrence’s singles fixtures, with the both of them sweeping to series victories of 2-0 and 2-1, respectively. Horton, rather impressively, slammed 10 points onto the board during his third singles game to win 10-6. Priest and Phillips struck close in their games, each of them notching six points in their opening fixtures. Priest would repeat the trick in the second fixture to push his opponent Dupre all the way to what ended in a tense 1-2 loss.
The Vikings’ showings in the doubles and singles fixtures displayed some fine performances and will ultimately give the Men’s Tennis team something to look back on with inspiration as they enter their following game against rival Ripon College. The red vs. blue battle at the Lawrence Courts will be one to watch, indeed.