Blueboys Tennis Drop Tightly Contested Match To Eagles

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The Illinois College men's tennis team continued their non-conference schedule by hosting the Eagles of Illinois Valley Community College for a dual match Saturday at Bellatti Tennis Complex. The Blueboys battled the Eagles very closely but fell just short by the final score of 4-5. 

IC got off to a slow start in doubles matches by winning one-of-three matches. In the No. 2 doubles match, the identical twins from Arkansas in Grayson Dupre and Andrus Dupre dominated their opponents with a 8-1 victory. In the No. 3 doubles match, the duo of Antonio Loaiza and Allen Oakley battled their opponents but fell short by the score of 3-8.

In the six single matches, four matches went into tiebreaker sets. In the No. 1 singles match, Jeff Wernsing won the opening set by the score of 6-4 before dropping the second set by the score of 3-6 that forced the first singles tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker set, Wernsing battled his opponent closey but dropped the match by the final score of 6-10. 

In the No. 2 singles match, Glenn Conway won his opening set by the score of 6-4. In the second set, Conway went point-for-point with his opponent and fell just short by the score of 6-7 that forced the second tiebreaker in single matches. In the tiebreaker set, it was all Conway as he routed to a 5-0 set win to defeat his opponent. 

A. Dupre was spectacular in his single match as he took down his opponent in straight sets by the final scores of 6-2 and 6-0.

In the No. 5 singles match, Allen Oakley dropped the first set but responded with a 6-3 victory in the second set that forced a tiebreaker set. In the tiebreaker set, Oakley went point-for-point with opponent and used a late set rally to win the match by the final score of 10-8.       

The No. 6 singles match that included IC's Momir Vickovic and IVCC's Logan Goetsch was a intense battle. Vickovic opened the back-and-forth match with a 6-3 set one victory. In the second set, the battled remained fierce as both student-athletes exchanged points that lead to a 6-7 victory by Goetsch that forced the final tiebreaker set of the match. In the tiebreaker set, Vickovic fell behind early and dropped the match by the final score of 0-3. 

The Blueboys will open Midwest Conference play with a visit to Grinnell College on Saturday, April 6 starting at 9:00AM in Grinnell, Iowa.