Lake Geneva, Wis. -- Seeking to earn their first team victory of the weekend and move their season record back up to .500, the Thunder men's tennis team matched up against the Luther Norse on Saturday evening. Wheaton edged their Iowa opponents, 5-4, to end their participation in UW-Whitewater's Warhawk Invite on a high note, and the team's record is now 3-3 for the campaign as a result of the victory.
For the second match running, the Thunder fell in a tiebreaker at the #1 doubles spot but managed to win the other two fixtures.
Joey Geisz and
Jacob Williams saw off their Norse opponents at 8-4, before
Tim Steiner and
Jack Wenzel earned the same outcome at the #3 doubles position.
Steiner earned a perfect 4-0 personal record on Saturday when he claimed his #2 singles battle via a 10-7 tiebreaker game win. Just as he did against Grinnell on Saturday morning, Steiner responded after dropping the first set to secure a comeback victory. Doubles teammate Wenzel registered a point for the Thunder at #4 singles, topping his Norse counterpart, 6-2, 3-6, 10-6, joining Steiner in earning a tiebreak result. Geisz once again won his #5 singles matchup in straight sets, notching two 6-4 set wins.
Wheaton will return to action next Saturday when they host University of St. Francis (Ill.) in an indoor non-conference test.
Lake Geneva, Wis. -- In their first of two matches on Saturday, the Wheaton men's tennis team faced off against the Grinnell Pioneers and fell to a narrow 5-4 defeat. The Thunder took the doubles competitions at a 2-1 split, but their opponents from Iowa captured four of the six singles contests to earn a tight result.
Despite falling in an 8-7 tiebreaker at #1 doubles, Wheaton got the better of Grinnell thanks to
Jacob Williams and
Joey Geisz winning their #2 doubles pairing 8-5, before
Tim Steiner combined with
Jack Wenzel to earn an 8-7 tiebreak win of their own at #3 doubles.
Steiner then earned his second positive result of the match at #2 singles, coming back from a 2-6 first set loss to capture the second frame at 6-4 and winning the resulting 10-point tiebreak game to earn Wheaton's third point. Geisz swept his Grinnell counterpart aside at #5 singles via a 6-4, 6-2 scoreline, but the Pioneers did just enough in the other four individual events to capture the match win.
The Thunder will try to avoid a winless weekend when they face the Luther Norse at 5:30 PM on Saturday.
