The Lawrence University Men’s Tennis team is trying to reach the pinnacle of the Midwest Conference this season. The Vikings return almost everyone from last season, and have several new recruits that should lead the team to the top of the pack.The Vikings return three of their top four players this season. Jai Arora, Brian Hilgeman, and Nick Beyler all will be major factors in the Vikings’ play. Hilgeman and Beyler won the second doubles conference championship last spring, and Arora was near the top of the number one singles.
Hilgeman will play three singles and Beyler will play four singles. The two will team up to be the number two doubles team again, and defend their MWC crown.
The Vikings also have two new additions who will make a major impact. Fabrice Munyakazi-Juru and Alex Clark are two freshmen who will play immediately. Munyakazi-Juru will play the number two singles, and Clark will play number five. Munyakazi-Juru will play one doubles with Arora, and Clark will play number three doubles with Dan Putterman.
Hilgeman says, “Ripon and us are the top two teams. Whoever wins the match tonight will probably win the conference.”
The Redhawks defeated UW-Oshkosh 5-2 last week, and Oshkosh is one of the top teams in the state.
Hilgeman continued, “We have a really deep team, we only lost one player, and we gained two who are good. We will be tough all around.”
The Vikings play their biggest match of the season tonight against Ripon. The match starts at 5:30 p.m. at Club West in Neenah.