The Lawrence University men’s tennis team warmed up with the weather, breaking their six-match nonconference losing streak this past weekend. Two close competitions at home resulted in a victory over Wisconsin Lutheran College and a narrow loss to Lake Forest College.
On Friday, April 4, the Warriors came to the Fox Cities Racquet Club and held a close 2-1 lead after doubles competition. A big singles performance pulled the Vikings ahead and brought the final score to 5-4.
Freshmen David Jumes and Sam Wiener posted the only Lawrence doubles victory, but several strong singles performances made up the difference. In singles competition, Jumes led the team with a 6-1, 6-3 victory, senior Jeremy Andereck won 6-1, 6-2, sophomore Adam Busch was a 6-3, 6-3, and sophomore Ethan Perushek earned a 6-0, 6-3 victory.
The following Sunday, April 6, Lake Forest arrived at the Lawrence Courts to challenge the Vikings in close conference competition. Lawrence again fell behind 2-1 in doubles competition. This time, however, the Vikings were unable to come back as successfully in singles. The Foresters edged the Vikings 5-4.
In doubles competition, Sophomore Brian DeCorte teamed with Andereck to earn Lawrence’s sole doubles victory. In singles play, DeCorte went on to win 6-4, 6-3 and Andereck continued the success with a 6-0, 6-2 win. Jumes again played well to take a hard-fought 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win.
Sunday’s win put Lake Forest at the top of Midwest Conference (MWC) north division with a 2-0 conference record (11-10 overall). Meanwhile, Lawrence’s conference record fell to 0-1 (3-10 overall).
This weekend the Vikings will host Carroll University (6-10, 1-0 MWC) on Saturday before traveling to St. Norbert College (3-10, 1-1 MWC) on Sunday.