MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Northwestern men's tennis team battled the University of Wisconsin-Superior in the UMAC Tournament Championship match on Saturday afternoon. The #2 seeded Eagles gave everything they had, but in the end UNW fell 5-4 to the #1 seeded Yellowjackets.
In doubles, UWS jumped ahead 1-0 with an 8-3 win in the #1 match. The Eagles answered by winning both remaining doubles matches to pull ahead 2-1.
Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) and
Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) earned an 8-6 win at #2 doubles followed by
Tyrus Studer (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) and
Darin Rupp (Sioux Falls, S.D./Roosevelt) taking the #3 match 8-5.
In singles, the Eagles went up 3-1 with Weddle's 6-2, 6-4 win in the #3 match. The Yellowjackets proceeded to take #2 and then #1 singles matches to even the score at 3-3.
Jack Geurkink (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) put the Eagles up 4-3 with a 6-3, 6-2 win at #4 singles, bringing UNW just one singles win away from advancing to the NCAA Championships. The Yellowjackets, however, were up in the remaining two singles matches. In the end, UW-Superior held on to their leads in the #5 and #6 singles matches to clinch the UMAC Tournament title for the first time in program history.
Northwestern finishes the season with a 20-7 overall record, tying the program record for wins in a season set by last year's 20-9 squad. The success of the past two years has been a high mark for a program with 34 seasons of history. To stay up to date with all things UNW Men's Tennis, follow the Eagles at @unw_tennis on Instagram and right here at unweagles.com.
