Lake Geneva, Wis. -- The Wheaton men's tennis team once again traveled north on Friday to take part in the Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawk Invite alongside three other squads. The first matchup of this weekend's schedule saw the Thunder play the hosting Warhawks, who are ranked 25th in the latest ITA Division III Men's Tennis national rankings. UW-Whitewater won today's match by a score of 7-2 to hand Wheaton its first defeat of the new season.

The home team captured two of the three doubles matches this afternoon to claim an early advantage, but Wheaton's talented duo of Joey Geisz and Jacob Williams ensured that the Thunder did not go into singles play empty-handed. They powered past their Warhawk counterparts at #2 doubles, 8-4.

Both Williams and Cody Ching won the first set and forced a tiebreak in their competitive singles fixtures, but Wheaton's lone win came courtesy of Tim Steiner at #2 singles. The junior claimed the first set of his matchup, 6-3, and held his nerve to earn a straight-set victory with a 6-4 score in the second frame.

The Thunder men will face off against another nationally-ranked opponent on Saturday morning, the #36 Grinnell Pioneers. Wheaton will then round out its weekend slate with a 5 PM contest against Luther College.