Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
Monmouth Box Score
Aurora Box Score
AURORA, Ill. (Feb. 19, 2019) – Returning to the court after a week off, the North Central College men's tennis team extended its winning streak to five to begin the spring season, scoring a 8-1 win over Monmouth College to open the afternoon before a 9-0 shutout of Aurora University in the finale inside Vaughan Tennis Center.
In the opener against Monmouth (0-2), the Cardinals immediately scored a win by default at No. 3, before
Justin Howes and
Tyler Haizel took down Alex Martin and Brendan Guenther, 8-2 at No. 2. Completing the doubles sweep at No. 1 was
Victor Krueger and
Andy Hinch, as the pair was victorious over Zach Harris and Joseph Shie, 8-4.
Extending the lead 4-0 with another win by default at No. 6 singles,
Saim Malik secured the match win for North Central in straight 6-0 sets over Jory Masterman. At No. 4, Hinch made quick work of Guenther, 6-1, 6-0 before Howes shut out Martin, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3.
At the No. 2 position,
Tyler Bussell rolled to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Harris, giving the Cardinals a 8-0 lead before the Fighting Scots avoided the match sweep with a win at No. 1.
In the nightcap against Aurora (1-2), North Central (5-1) once again opened up the all-important 3-0 lead after doubles play, as
Marco Davila and
Jon Stroede scored the first win of the match 8-2 over Freeman Rosencrans and Nick Olds at the No. 3 position. At No. 1, Krueger and Hinch made quick work of Jared Burrow and Joe Mascha, 8-1, while Bussell and
Lucas Pindak shut out Colin Ritchie and Logan Morrissey, 8-2 at the No. 2 spot.
Carrying that momentum into singles play, Pindak was the first to defeat his opponent in Rosencrans, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5, before Krueger clinched the match win in straight 6-1 sets over Mascha at the No. 2 position.
Howes and Haizel then scored identical, 6-1, 6-0 victories at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, while Bussell cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Burrow at No. 1. Closing out the day at No. 6,
Grant Tuider completed the match sweep with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Olds.
North Central will have another week off before traveling to Clinton, Iowa for a pair of matches on Saturday, Feb. 23, taking on Loras College at 9 a.m., followed by Illinois College at 12 p.m. with both matches contested inside River Cities Tennis Complex.