Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Feb. 22, 2026) – Men's tennis dropped its third consecutive dual on Sunday, falling 5-2 to Kalamazoo College on the road. The Cardinals claimed their first doubles point of the season, while Philip Wottgen improved to 2-1 on the weekend in singles.
Wottgen and Rafael Lessa served once again as the top doubles pair for the Cardinals on Sunday, but came up just short in their contest 6-4. Henry Ros and Andres Valverde Gonzalez improved to 2-0 in doubles in duals, defeating Derek Blackwell and Will Seymour of Kalamazoo (3-2) 6-2.
With the two programs splitting the first two doubles matchups, the point came down to the contest between North Central's (1-4) Jack Briggs and Matt Crossland, and the Hornets' Haresh Anand and Sebastian Courtright. The set required a pair of extra games, but Briggs and Crossland emerged victorious 7-5, clinching the first doubles point in a dual for the Cardinals this season.
Wottgen grabbed his second win in the top spot in coach Joey Leto's lineup, and his second in three tries on the weekend. He defeated Cameron Crosby in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
David Vilarroig Martinez found himself in a three-set thriller once again on Sunday, going the distance against Anand. Anand took the opening set 6-3, but Vilarroig Martinez bounced back with a 6-3 victory of his own, forcing a tiebreaker.
The two men battled in what became more of a marathon than a sprint, as the two student-athletes needed 28 total points to crown a winner. Anand came out ahead in the end, edging Vilarroig Martinez 15-13 in the extra frame.
Ros also fell in three sets in his contest, taking the first set 6-4, losing the second 6-4, and falling 6-2 in the third. Lessa also dropped a tight one, losing in straight sets 7-5, 6-3.
North Central has the week to recover from its three-match weekend, but faces another three-match weekend this week, which begins with a Friday night contest with No. 38 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in Whitewater at 5 p.m. The Cardinals will then take part in a split doubleheader on Saturday, taking on Grinnell College on a neutral site in the morning and the Illinois Institute of Technology on the road in the evening.
