JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's tennis team defeated Monmouth College, 7-2, on a blustery night at the Bellatti Tennis Complex to take over sole possession of third place in the Midwest Conference. The Blueboys improved to 7-8 overall on the season, while their 4-2 record in the MWC marks the first time in program history that they have won that many conference matches in a single season.
Illinois College took command early on by winning all three doubles matches. First to wrap up were
Jacob McQueen and
Connor McAndrew with an 8-3 win over Alex Martin and Nicholas Robertson at No. 3. A few minutes later it was 2-0 after
Cameron Doerr and
Jonah Wheeland closed out an 8-4 win at No. 2 over Andrew Shie and Brendan Guenther. Soon after that,
Miguel Vaca and
Michael Connolly earned a third point with an 8-4 win at No. 1 over Joseph Shie and Zach Harris.
Wheeland retired in the first set of singles, giving Monmouth its first point at No. 2, but McAndrew and Doerr followed with wins at Nos. 6 and 4 to put five points on the board for the Blueboys and lock up the victory. McAndrew was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Robertson and Doerr took down Martin, 6-1, 6-0.
With things wrapped up, the Blueboys continued to pile on as Vaca took down Joseph Shie, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1. The other win came from McQueen at No. 5 with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Guenther. The Fighting Scots took their other point of the night at No. 3 as Harris outlasted Connolly, 6-2, 0-6, 10-4.
Illinois College is on the cusp of a Midwest Conference Tournament berth, but it will come down to the final day of MWC matches. On April 13, the Blueboys host Cornell College at 9 a.m. and follow that with Grinnell College at 3 p.m. at the Bellatti Tennis Complex.
