Contact: Rachel Balinao, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, rabalinao@noctrl.edu
Results
KENOSHA, Wis. (Sept. 6, 2025) - The North Central College men's tennis team opened its 2025 season at the CCIW (College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) Fall Invite, hosted by Carthage College at Smeds Tennis Center.
In Flight No.1 singles, Phillip Wottgen and Andrews Valverde Gonzalez represented the Cardinals. Wottgen started strong with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over IWU before ultimately securing third place in the top flight.
Flight No. 2 included run from Paul Leandri and Rafeal Lessa. After dropping his opener to Jang (Wheaton), Leandri rebounded with a 6-2, 6-1 win over IWU to finish fifth. Lessa, meanwhile, captured the championship against Jang (Wheaton), clinching a 7-5, 7-6(5) victory.
Henry Ros and Jack Briggs competed in singles Flight No.3 for the Cardinals. Ros went on to win three straight matches, including a 6-3, 4-6, (10-8) victory over Okino (Carthage), to claim the championship. Briggs earned a hard-fought opening win 6-3, 6-7(7), (10-2) before falling in his second round to Foucheaux (Carthage).
Flight No.4 saw Matt Crossland bounce back from an opening loss to claim fifth place with back-to-back wins against Wheaton
and Carroll. Crossland
topped off with a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Ehrlich (IWU). Teammate Rafael Miquel Isern advanced all the way to the final, defeating his first two opponents Ehrlich (IWU) 6-1,6-2 and Czonyka (Carthage) 6-2,6-4 in straight sets and before finishing runner-up to the Carthage Firebird
, Pimenta.
Finally, in singles Flight No.5,
Brandon Paasch and David Villaroig competed for the Cardinals. Paasch won his first match 6-0,6-0 against Tomecki (IWU), and went on to win his next match facing Hartman (IWU), 6-1,6-4 . Villaroig followed his teammate and won his first match 7-5,6-4 versus Carroll and won his next 6-1,4-6, (10-8) against Carthage. The Cardinal teammates then faced off in the championship round of Flight No.5 and Villaroig left with a 6-2,6-2 victory.
In doubles action, Flight No.1, Gonzalez and Wottgen defeated IWU 8-2 before finishing third overall, while Lessa and Leandri beat Carthage 8-7(8). Flight No.2 doubles, saw Ros and Briggs take third with wins over IWU (8-4) and Carthage (8-6), and the pairing of Isern and Crossland secured seventh after topping IWU 8-5. In Flight No.3 doubles, Paasch and Villaroig teamed up for an 8-7(4) opening win and went on to finish third with an 8-6 victory over Wheaton.
North Central will continue its fall schedule when a select group of Cardinals competes at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Central Regional Tournament, held Sept. 26 at Stowe Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich.
