FRIDLEY, Minn. – The Northwestern College men's tennis team won its sixth straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) match on Wednesday with a convincing 9-0 victory over Martin Luther College at Lifetime Fitness. The Eagles have secured at least the second seed in next week's conference tournament and could earn a share of the UMAC regular season championship with a win this Saturday at the College of St. Scholastica.

Match Results

Wednesday's match started with three rather quick doubles results that all went in NWC's favor. The Eagles switched things up a bit in their doubles pairings as David Knight (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) teamed up with Jimmy Ekman (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) at the No. 1 doubles spot, while Keagan Blancke (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) moved down to No. 2 doubles to join Agassi Mila (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids). Knight and Ekman defeated Scott Henrich and Paul Koester 8-1, while Blancke and Mila turned in an equal 8-1 result against Jordan Bence and Kris Kuschel. Philip Gudim (Becker, Minn./Home School) and Levi Busse (Amery, Wis./Amery) then put together an 8-3 victory versus Marty Johnson and Tom Gorzalski at No. 3 doubles.

In No. 1 singles action, Knight, who was named the UMAC Player of the Week on Tuesday, defeated Henrich 6-0, 6-0. Mila finished a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Bence at the No. 3 singles position, while Blancke remained perfect in conference action with a 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4) win over Koester at No. 2. With the team victory in place, Ekman, Gudim and Busse then each played their singles contests in an eight-game pro set format, with all three coming out with rather easy Ws.

Now 11-9 on the season, Northwestern is 7-1 in league play with two matches to go. The Eagles will head north to face St. Scholastica on Saturday before squaring off against the University of Minnesota, Morris on Monday, April 29 in either Fridley or Lakeville, Minn.