WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. – The Illinois College men's tennis team showed up to play on Thursday night, but a match that went down to the wire ended in a Webster University victory after a win at No. 6 singles gave the Gorloks a 5-4 edge. Webster improves to 7-2 on the year, while IC sinks to 1-5.
The opening point of the night went to Webster as Nicolas Andrade and Tanner Haugen outlasted
Jacob McQueen and
Connor McAndrew at No. 3 doubles for an 8-6 win. The Blueboys came back to take a 2-1 lead at the conclusion of doubles.
Cameron Doerr and
Jonah Wheeland leveled the match at 1-1 after an 8-5 win in the No. 2 match and
Miguel Vaca and
Michael Connolly teamed up for the win at No. 1, 8-4, over Riley Muren and Austin Nation.
Doerr extended Illinois College's lead to 3-1 after an emphatic, 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles over Tom Shutzman. The next three points all went Webster's way, however, after victories at Nos. 1, 2 and 5 over Vaca, Wheeland and McQueen. Connolly squared the match with a win at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 7-6(4) over Charlie McGhee, setting the stage for a winner-take-all match at No. 6 singles. Andrade and McAndrew were neck-and-neck throughout the match, but the Gorlok junior eventually earned a 6-4, 7-5 victory to seal the win for the home side.
Non-conference play continues on Saturday for Illinois College with a 10 a.m. match at Greenville University.
