ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The University of Northwestern Men's Tennis team traveled south to the Show Me State in hopes of capping off the careers of
Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) and
Darin Rupp (Sioux Falls, S.D./Roosevelt) with a UMAC Men's Tennis Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA National Tournament. Unfortunately, those dreams did not become reality, as the North Division second-seeded Eagles lost 0-5 to North Division champion Principia College at the Dwight Davis Memorial Tennis Center.
The Panthers jumped out to a commanding lead in doubles play that they did not relinquish. The #3 doubles team of
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Eli Henderson (Andover, Minn/Andover) lost 1-8 and UNW's top duo of Morrell and
Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) fell 5-8. Rupp and
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) produced the closest match at #2 doubles, but ultimately lost 6-8.
Principia needed just two singles win to punch its ticket to Saturday's championship match and didn't waste any time doing so.
Caleb Jergenson (Livingston, Mont./Park) lost 0-6, 0-6 at #6 singles to make it 4-0 in favor of the Panthers, then Jarchow dropped his #4 singles match 0-6, 2-6. The remaining matches in progress were then halted since the match had been decided.
Northwestern wraps up the season with an 18-11 record, which is the third-most wins in program history. UNW also saw its share of milestones reached in 2024, as
Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) became the all-time winningest player in Eagle history and
Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) won his 100
th career match. Morrell, Rupp and Henderson will be graduating this month and will be missed by Head Coach
Matt Swigart and his staff as they move on to their next ventures in life off the court.
