Hanover Park, Ill. -- Returning to play after a two-week layoff, the Wheaton men's tennis team hosted Concordia University Wisconsin at Centre Court Athletic Club this afternoon for its 2026 home-opener. The visiting Falcons emerged with a 5-2 victory on Saturday, improving their season record to 6-1 and dropping the Thunder's early mark to 1-4.

The #3 doubles pairing of Joshua Hartman and Ryder Ward earned Wheaton a win with a smooth 6-2 result today, but the NACC side claimed the doubles point for the match with hard-fought 7-5 and 6-4 scorelines in the other two contests.

CUW earned the match win on Saturday with straight-set victories in the top two singles fixtures and a pair of competitive tiebreak wins at #3 and #6 singles. But the Thunder did not walk away empty-handed, as Ward doubled up for the day with a 7-5, 6-3 success at #5 singles and David Hill logged a second-set bagel in his #4 matchup to earn a point for his team.

The Wheaton men's squad will continue its non-conference slate one week from now, traveling to face University of Saint Francis (Ill.) in a 4:00 PM contest.