Naperville, Ill. -- The Wheaton men's tennis team made the short drive over to Naperville on Saturday to compete in their second CCIW matchup in as many days. The Thunder swept Carroll 9-0 in their conference opener on Friday but came up against a significantly stronger opponent in this afternoon's contest. The hosting North Central Cardinals used a 6-0 sweep of the singles competitions to defeat Wheaton by a score of 7-2. The Thunder's record drops to 8-6 on the season and 1-1 in CCIW action with today's loss.

The match got off to a good start for the visitors, as Wheaton claimed the doubles portion with two points to NCC's one thanks to wins at #2 and #3 doubles. Joey Geisz and Jacob Williams earned a comprehensive 8-3 set victory, before Tim Steiner and Jack Wenzel notched an 8-6 result in their matchup to give Wheaton the 2-1 edge.

This would prove to be the last point of the day for the Thunder, however, as the hosts claimed all six singles pairings to register the win. Steiner and Geisz battled hard to win the second sets of their #2 and #5 singles fixtures, respectively, but the Cardinals had too much firepower and wore their neighbors down to earn the required five points.

Next up on the schedule for the Wheaton men's team is a home matchup against Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday.