NWC-UW-Eau Claire Results
NWC-Simpson Results

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Going two weeks without playing a match after its 2012 debut on Jan. 28, the Northwestern College men's tennis teams split its two contests on Saturday. The Eagles kicked off their day against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1-8 L) before taking on Simpson College (8-1 W).

Against Eau Claire, Caleb Kauss (St. Paul, Minn./Harding) was the only Northwestern player to earn a victory in his match, beating the Blugolds' Ryan Vande Linde 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (13-11) in a contest that went into extra innings. Kauss and his No. 1 doubles partner David Knight (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) nearly won their contest against Chris Kuna and Joey Minear, falling 9-8 (7-3).

After Kauss's victory, Northwestern's Philip Gudim (Becker, Minn./Home School) came the closest to winning his singles match, taking a total of six games off of Eau Claire's Brayden Parman over the course of two sets.

Northwestern's first win of the 2012 season came shortly thereafter. The Eagles nearly swept all nine matches, but the No. 5 singles match went into an extra-long super tiebreaker that ultimately went the Storm's way. The Eagles' No. 1 singles player in Knight earned his first victory of the 2012 campaign, defeating Adam Summitt 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3). Keagan Blancke (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) took care of Blake Billings at the No. 3 singles spot with ease at 6-0, 6-0 while Agassi Mila (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) earned a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles.

Now 1-2 early in the season, NWC will rest for a week before facing off against St. Olaf College on Saturday, Feb. 17. That match will be in Owatonna, Minn. beginning at 12 p.m.