SUPERIOR, Wis. - In a big conference matchup for the University of Northwestern Men's Tennis team, the Eagles looked to oust the UW Superior Yellowjackets for the coveted #2 seed and home court advantage going into the conference tournament.
To start things off, the #3 doubles team of Tyrus Studer (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) and Isaac Velgersdyk (Savage, Minn./Southwest Christian) made quick work of their opponent, winning 8-4. The #2 doubles team of Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) and Adam Ryerse (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) followed suit earning an 8-5 victory, turning around a slow 2-4 start. Unfortunately, the Eagles fell just short of sweeping doubles and going into singles play with a 3-0 lead, falling at #1 doubles with a score of 5-8.
In what seemed like a solid start for the Eagles leading 2-1 after doubles play, things started to go sideways shortly after. The Yellowjackets were able to take wins at #3 and #6 singles giving them a 2-3 team score advantage. In his second match in a row, Velgersdyk was able to win a clutch team point for the Eagles. After winning the first set 6-3, Velgersdyk was down 4-5 going into his service game and was able to string together a hold, break, and hold to secure his match 6-3, 7-5. With that win, the Eagles knotted things up at 3 apiece.
In a marathon of a match, the Eagles' Matthew Wedin (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) battled to push a third set tiebreaker after dropping his first set 5-7 and countering with a 6-4 second set win of his own. In what seemed like hours, the #4 singles players of Wedin and Jacob Zacharias (UW-Superior) refused to be the first to make a mistake in the third set super-tiebreaker. After 18 grueling points, the super breaker was tied at 9-9 and Superior's Zacharias was able to gain the advantage and close for a hard fought 9-11 third set super-tiebreaker victory. After that well fought match, the Eagles dropped to a 3-4 deficit, needing to win the last two matches.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, they were not able to find that spark as both Morrell (#2 singles) and Davis Pfaff (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) (#1 singles) fell in straight sets to give the Eagles a tough 3-6 loss and close the season as the conference #3 seed heading into the tourney.
The UNW Men's Tennis team will battle the Bethany Lutheran Vikings in the UMAC Tournament Quarterfinals for a chance to avenge their loss against the UW-Superior Yellowjackets in the Semifinals. The Quarterfinals first serve is scheduled for 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 29th under the lights at the Johnson Tennis Courts.
