MANKATO, Minn. - Tuesday's impromptu men's tennis match between the University of Northwestern and Bethany Lutheran College had all the makings for a dramatic event. Two of the UMAC's premier schools battling it out in a winner-take-all tilt for a berth in this weekend's UMAC Men's Tennis Tournament after finishing in a three-way tie for first place with the University of Wisconsin-Superior. After falling 6-1 to Bethany just last week, UNW was motivated and hopeful to turn its luck around in round two. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Vikings were ready for the challenge and clinched the win early by a 5-0 score.
Doubles began in split fashion, as Northwestern's No. 2 team of
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Jacob Petrick (Omaha, Neb./Elkhorn North) fell 1-6, and the No. 1 squad of
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and
Sam Majerus (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) won by a 6-3 score. The fate of the match's opening point came fown to No. 3 doubles, where
Caleb Swigart (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) and
Zander Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) held a 4-3 lead before surrendering the final three points to BLC, resulting in a 4-6 loss.
Riding the momentum of swinging the doubles point its way, Bethany Lutheran rolled in singles play. Haack dropped his No. 1 match 1-6, 1-6, while Jarchow suffered a 1-6, 2-6 defeat at No. 2, putting the Vikings just one point away from clinching the win and the playoff berth. The No. 3 and No. 6 matches finished simultaneously, and both went in BLC's favor.
Carsen Kramer (Faribault, Minn/Faribault) fell 2-6, 4-6 at No. 3, while Petrick lost 2-6, 2-6 in the No. 6 slot. Since both finished, the final score read 5-0 in favor of Bethany despite only needing four points to call the remaining matches.
Despite being eliminated from the postseason, the Eagles will have one final match on Thursday, April 30th at home against Crown College. UNW will honor its graduating seniors with a Senior Night ceremony before the match, and will also recognize Head Coach
Matt Swigart's 400th career win, which he achieved earlier this season. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 PM at Johnson Tennis Complex, and the matches will be streamed on
Northwestern's new PlaySight streaming page.
