Lake Geneva, Wis. -- Fresh off of its season-opening sweep of Wisconsin Lutheran College last Saturday, the Wheaton men's tennis team returned to the Badger State this afternoon to start its three-match series at UW-Whitewater's annual Warhawk Invite. The Thunder took on the hosting Warhawks on Friday and suffered a close 4-3 loss in a competitive contest. Wheaton's early-season record is now 1-1, while Whitewater, currently #35 in the Division III ITA team rankings, improves to 3-1 on the year.

Whitewater swept the doubles fixtures to claim the point that would ultimately prove decisive in today's final outcome, as the two squads split the six singles matches to each collect three points. The Warhawks earned straightforward wins at #2 and #3 doubles, but their top duo was made to sweat by Andrew Jang and Andrew Winters, who forced a tiebreak in the #1 matchup before falling, 7-6.

Ryder Ward got Wheaton on the board this afternoon with a tiebreak victory at #5 singles, cruising to a 6-1 outcome in the first set before shaking off a second frame defeat to win 10-3 in the extra game. Winters then collected his second straight-set victory of the season at #3 singles with a 7-5, 6-3 result to cap an impressive outing. Joshua Hartman maintained his perfect start to solo collegiate competition with a noteworthy victory over his senior Warhawks opponent at #6 singles. The rookie gutted out a 7-6 tiebreak win in the opening set before outlasting his counterpart in an extended 12-10 tiebreak game to decide the match and earn the Thunder's third point of the afternoon.

Wheaton will stay in Lake Geneva for two more non-conference matches on Saturday. The Thunder are set to face Grinnell College at 9 AM tomorrow and will close out their weekend slate with a 6 PM contest against Luther College.