Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Millikin Box Score

Elmhurst Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (May 4, 2017) – The North Central College men's tennis team split a pair of matches on the opening day of the 2017 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships on Thursday, falling 6-0 to Millikin University in the opener, before a 5-3 comeback victory over Elmhurst College later in the afternoon.
 
In the opener, the third-seeded Big Blue (15-4) jumped out to a 3-0 lead after doubles play as Connor Sass and Tyler Bussell fought Greg Schwoeppe and Dane Pierantoni at the No. 3 position, but ultimately fell 8-6.
 
Millikin went on to capture wins at the No. 2, 3 and 5 positions to capture the match victory as the tournament formant has the team's play to decision.
 
The Cardinals (11-9) bounced back nicely in the nightcap however, but still had to dig themselves out of a 2-1 hole after doubles play.  Elmhurst (2-20) scored wins at the top-two positions, but Sass and Bussell avoided the sweep and cut the Bluejay lead in half with a 8-1 victory over Kevin Osburn and David Wilson at the No. 3 position.
 
North Central came alive in singles play as Bussell was the first to finish at the No. 6 spot, cruising to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Wilson, knotting the match score 2-2.  At No. 4, Tyler Haizel downed Osburn in straight 6-2 sets, while Adam Winters held off a late rush from Grant O'Connell at No. 5 to secure a 6-1, 7-6 victory and increase the Cardinal lead 4-2.
 
After the Bluejays got a point back at the No. 2 position, Sass took down Jackson Lindquist, 6-3 in the opening set, before going up 3-1 in the second set but Jackson battled back to knot the score 6-6 late.  With Victor Krueger splitting the first two sets with Kyle Endicott, 7-5, 2-6 at the No. 1 spot, things seemed to be heading downhill quickly for the Cardinals, but Sass battled back to win a 7-4 second set tiebreaker over Lindquist to seal the 5-3 win for North Central.
 
The Cardinals continue play in the tournament tomorrow, taking on the winner of Illinois Wesleyan University and Carroll University in the fifth-place match at 8:30 a.m. at the Lower Campus Courts hosted by Augustana College.  The link to the tournament website is available HERE.