Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (April 12, 2026) – For the third consecutive season, the North Central College men's tennis program will own at least a share of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin regular season crown. The Cardinals clinched a share of the league title with a 4-3 victory over Augustana College on a sunny and blustery day at Naperville North that was capped off by a Senior Day ceremony honoring the program's two seniors: Matt Crossland and Ignacio Hernandez Ruiz.
The victory is the ninth straight for the Cardinals, the longest winning streak for the men's tennis program since its 16-dual unbeaten run in the spring of 2024.
Crossland opened the day with a win in doubles with his partner David Vilarroig Martinez, winning 6-4. Henry Ros and Andres Valverde Gonzalez tried to clinch the doubles point for the Cardinals but came up just short, losing 7-6 (9-7) in the number one spot.
Jack Briggs and Philipp Wottgen trailed in the set 5-4, but battled back to tie the match at five. After falling in the next game to trail 6-5 in the set, the duo had to fight back again, winning the game to tie the set at six apiece, forcing a tiebreaker game.
Wottgen and Briggs trailed 5-4 in the tiebreaker game. They put their foot in the ground and put together yet another comeback, outscoring their opponents 4-1 from then on to take the tiebreaker 8-6, and clinch the doubles point for the Cardinals. On the winning point, Wottgen delivered a fireball of a serve that was backhanded by the Augustana pair opposite them. Briggs, in one swift swing, hammered home a cross-court shot that had no chance of being returned before being mobbed by his teammates to celebrate clinching the doubles point.
Valverde Gonzalez bounced back from his loss in doubles to grab a quick win in the third slot of the lineup in singles, winning 6-0, 6-1. Rafael Lessa followed him with a dominant showing of his own, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
Ros had a chance to clinch the match for the Cardinals from the number two spot. Ros cruised in the first set, winning 6-1, but found himself in a battle in the second. After going up 3-1, Ros' opponent came back to tie the set at four, five, and eventually six, forcing a tiebreaker. Ros would win the tiebreaker, clinching the match for the Cardinals.
On the final rally of his match, Ros forced his opponent to his backhand, placing a ball deep along the baseline that forced a lobbed return, which Ros attacked and slammed home to the other side of the court to end the match with a bang.
Vilarroig Martinez fell in a tight affair 6-4, 3-6, 0-1 (10-8), while Rafael Miquel Isern lost 6-2, 6-1, and Wottgen dropped a three-set thriller 2-6, 7-5, 0-1 (6-10).
The Cardinals can clinch sole possession of the CCIW regular season title on April 21 when they travel to Wheaton College. Coach Joey Leto's squad will travel south to St. Louis prior to that, however, taking on No. 9 Washington University on April 18 at 2:30 p.m. at the Tao Tennis Center.
