Hanover Park, Ill. - The Wheaton men's tennis team defeated Illinois Wesleyan 5-0 on Tuesday afternoon in an opening round match of the 2014 CCIW Men's Tennis Championship. Wheaton, the tournament's third-seed, hosted the sixth-seeded Titans at Centre Court Athletic Club in Hanover Park. Wheaton advances to the tournament semifinals on Friday at 10:00 a.m against number-two seed Carthage College at Berens Park in Elmhurst, Illinois. Carthage advanced to Friday's semifinal with a 9-0 win against Millikin on Tuesday afternoon. The winner of Friday's two semifinal matches will face each other in the CCIW Championship at 10:00 a.m. in Elmhurst. TOURNAMENT WEBSITE

Thunder All-American Ryan Kreis was a 6-1, 6-3 winner at number-one singles against George Alex of Illinois Wesleyan today. Freshman Justin Ancona was a 6-2, 6-3 winner at number-two singles against Martijn van Dooren and Josh Ward was a 6-2, 6-0 victor at number-three singles versus Aaron Guenther. Matt Steiner defeated the Titans' Kevin Piotrowski 6-0, 6-0. David Buursma was leading his match with a 6-2 victory in the first set when the event ended in Wheaton's advantage.

One doubles match was contested as Wheaton's David Buursma and Derek Mumaw earned an 8-3 win against Kyle Hyland and Genyl Rufino at number-three doubles. The contests at number-one and number-two doubles had not begun before the match was called in favor of the Thunder. 

WHEATON COLLEGE 5, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 0
Singles competition
1. Kreis, Ryan (WHEATON) def. Alex, George (IWU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Ancona, Justin (WHEATON) def. van Dooren, Martijn (IWU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Ward, Josh (WHEATON) def. Guenther, Aaron (IWU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Steiner, Matt (WHEATON) def. Piotrowski, Kevin (IWU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Buursma, David (WHEATON) vs. Crim, Calen (IWU) 6-2, unfinished
6. Trump, Andrew (WHEATON) vs. Rufino, Genyl (IWU) 2-3, unfinished

Doubles competition
3. Buursma, David/Mumaw, Derek (WHEATON) def. Hyland, Kyle/Rufino, Genyl (IWU) 8-3