Men's Tennis | February 28, 2016
NEENAH, Wis. (Duhawks.com) - The Loras men's and women's tennis teams opened its spring season with a pair of wins in non-conference action over Ripon. The Duhawks won 16 individual matches, winning both duals by identical 8-1 margins.
LORAS HIGHLIGHTS- The Duhawks opened both duals with sweeps in doubles' play.
- At No. 1 doubles for the men, it was the freshman duo of Riley Michel and Sean Baldwin that earned the 8-5 win.
- Sophomore Kevin Murphy and junior Jason Derby kept the train rolling with a win at No. 2 doubles, 8-1.
- Seniors Ulises Hernandez and Neil Kane completed the sweep with their win at the No. 3 spot, 8-1.
- Loras' momentum from doubles' play carried over into the singles portion of the dual where the Duhawks took five of six matches.
- Derby pushed his match at No. 1 singles to a tiebreaker, fighting back from a 7-6 loss in the opening set. Derby took set two 6-4, but dropped the tiebreaker 10-8.
- At the No. 2 spot, Hernandez disposed of Ripon's J.J. Grinde, 6-3, 6-1.
- Baldwin's win at No. 3 singles came by a score of 6-1, 6-0 over Ripon's Zach Muench.
- Michel added a win at the No. 4 position, defeating Jacob Kramer, 6-3, 6-3.
- Murphy cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles in his Duhawk debut.
- Loras' final win came at the No. 6 spot, thanks to Kane's sweep of Steven Lanphier, 6-0, 6-0.
- Over in the women's dual, a similar storyline played out for the Duhawks.
- Once again, Loras swept doubles play, beginning with sophomores Sam Pietruszynski and Kylie DeWees winning at the No. 1 position, 8-1.
- The Duhawks made quick work of their opponents at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, winning by identical 8-0 set scores. At No. 2 for Loras was junior Jessica Dickhut and freshman Emma Cooke, while sophomores Rachael Molidor and Ayla Graziano earned the win at No. 3 doubles.
- In singles' play, Dickhut dropped her match at No. 1, 6-3, 6-3.
- At the No. 2 spot, DeWees worked her way to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Ripon's Courtney Olson.
- After a strong fall season, Cooke continued the winning for the Duhawks at No. 3 singles, winning 6-2, 6-1.
- Pietruszynski made light work at No. 4 with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
- Graziano posted a set sweep at No. 5 singles, 6-0, 6-0.
- Molidor brought home the eighth victory for the Duhawks at the No. 6 position, winning 6-1, 6-1 over Ripon's Lily Lenk.
UP NEXTThe men's team is on the road for a pair of matches during the weekend of Mar. 12 and 13, facing Lakeland on Saturday and Wisconsin Lutheran on Sunday. The women are back in action next week as they face St. Ambrose on Mar. 5.
