By: The Blueboys broke a losing streak that went back to the 2012 season with a convincing 7-2 victory at Fontbonne University on Thursday night.
CLAYTON, Mo. – When you've been waiting for four years to win a match, what's a few more minutes? The Illinois College men's tennis team waited out two rain delays and came away with a 7-2 win over Fontbonne University on Thursday night, the first win by the Blueboys since the 2012 season. IC moves to 1-9 on the season.
After starting more than 30 minutes late due to some afternoon showers, Illinois College set the tone by taking two out of three matches in doubles to grab the early lead on the Griffins. Though
T.J. Lawal and
Austin Franceschelli lost their match at No. 3, 8-3,
Miguel Vaca and
Michael Connolly evened the score with an easy 8-0 win at No. 1.
Elijah Rhoad and
Ryan Golab-Vice then gave the Blueboys an important advantage heading into singles by pulling away from the Fontbonne duo at No. 2 to win, 8-4.
Most matches were reaching the end of the first set when a patch of rain halted play for more than 30 minutes. After the delay ended, Golab-Vice was the first to finish, putting the final touches on a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles. The Griffins pulled one back minutes later with a victory at No. 6 that made it 3-2 in favor of the Blueboys.
With the remaining four matches moving towards their conclusions, the points came quickly for Illinois College. Rhoad battled back from a set down to win his match at No. 3 in a tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8. Less than a minute later, Connolly came through with the clinching point at No. 2 singles, crushing Khoa Trieu 6-2, 6-2.
Though the win was already in hand, Lawal and Vaca ended the night on a high note for Illinois College. Down a set, Lawal stormed back at No. 4 singles for a 3-6, 7-6 (2), 10-6 victory. Vaca closed out the night by outlasting Blake Wisniewski at No. 1 singles 7-5, 6-3 for his ninth win of the season.
The Blueboys will look to keep their momentum going this weekend as they host a trio of Midwest Conference matches. On April 9, IC will play St. Norbert College at 10 a.m. and Lawrence University at 4 p.m. On April 10, the Blueboys will challenge Ripon College in a 10 a.m. match.
