DE PERE, Wis. (Feb. 20, 2023) – Loras College's men's tennis team split a pair of matches over the weekend as the Duhawks fell 7-2 to the University of Wisconsin-Superior before rebounding with a 6-3 win over St. Norbert College on Sunday.

The Duhawks (3-4) managed a pair of singles victories in the defeat to the Yellowjackets (5-0), then took five of the six singles matches against the Green Knights (4-4) to earn their first win in the spring portion of the season.

Against Superior on Saturday, the No. 3 and 4 singles players showed great resiliency as senior Konnor Barth and sophomore Kareem Kassas each dropped their opening sets. At threes, Barth lost set one to Vitor Sakakibara 6-3 while Kassas fell to Jacob Zacharias 6-1 at fours.

Barth flipped the switch after the early defeat and stormed back for a 6-1 win in set two before taking set three 10-3. Kassas battled with Zacharias in set two and emerged with a narrow 7-5 victory before taking the third set 10-5 to give the Duhawks some sense of momentum heading into Sunday.

Sunday didn't start out great for the Duhawks as they trailed 2-1 after doubles play despite three hotly-contested matches. Kassas and freshman Lucas Healy were the only doubles victors for Loras as the No. 2 pairing took their match 8-5.

In singles, four of the Duhawks' five victories came in just two sets while senior Sean Gelski emerged with a tiebreaker win at fives. Gelski won the first set 6-4 but dropped the second set in a 7-6 (8-6) tiebreaker before finishing with a 10-7 win in set three.

Barth, Kassas Healy, and freshman Gage Becker all claimed wins in straight sets as Kassas' 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 4 singles served as the clincher.

Loras is back in action this weekend with a pair of matches in Winona, Minn. The Duhawks play Saint Mary's University (Minn.) at 6 P.M. on Friday, Feb. 24 before facing Bethany Lutheran College at 12:30 P.M. on Saturday, Feb. 25.