The Viking tennis team did not fare very well in the team portion of the Midwest Conference Tournament, but one doubles team brought home the gold for LU. In the number one doubles bracket, Jai Arora and Fabrice Munyakazi-Juru defeated Adam Bruno and Paul Vanden Boogaard 6-4, 6-0, to win their first doubles championship. It was the first gold medal for Arora in his four years at LU, and the second for Munyakazi-Juru.The Vikings also had some close calls in championship matches. Munyakazi-Juru lost his championship match to Eli Best of Grinnell in three sets. Arora lost in the semifinals, and the third doubles team of Alex Weck and Junpei Furakawa lost in the consolation final to a doubles team from Beloit.
While the Vikings lose Arora and Dan Putterman from this year’s team, they will benefit from the return of Nick Beyler, who has been in London this term, and the return of Brian Hilgeman, who did not play the last two weeks of the season because he was studying in the Cayman Islands. Both these players, along with Munyakazi-Juru, form a good core for the Vikings to build upon next spring.