Wall Street

Men pull together for midnight match

Date 3/17/2005 12:00 AM | Topic: Sports

The men's tennis team has been perfect for the past two months as they have won 12 straight matches.

The team, which has a 13-2 record overall (3-0 IIAC), defeated St. Ambrose, Augustana (Ill.) and Wartburg all in one day, when they traveled to Rock Island, Ill. on March 12.

The Norse swiftly defeated St. Ambrose by a score of 7-2, and also lost two matches against Augustana as they went 5-2.

The toughest match of the day was the final one, against Wartburg, when the men snuck by with a 4-3 victory.

"I think the team did fine this weekend, but we let our guard down for the match against Wartburg," said Jared Wiklund ('08).

"Only four players were sent to compete at Wartburg before the rest of the team arrived, and that was a huge disadvantage in my opinion.

"When the rest of the team arrived, I think we gave a lot of support to each other as a team and managed to pull out the win."

Wiklund defeated Wartburg's Greg Koenen 6-3, 6-3 at number two singles.

"All in all, I think my play was a little sloppy, but that will happen to anyone at 12 a.m.," Wiklund said.

The team's match did not end until 12:45 a.m., according to Wiklund. Four singles players arrived at 8:30 p.m., and the rest arrived after the completion of the Augustana match. The singles and doubles matches then took three hours to complete.

"We called a local grill and bar and they stayed open until 2 a.m. just so we could eat dinner," Wiklund said.

Other top singles performers against Wartburg were Isaac White ('08) (6-2, 5-7, 10-6, #4) and Matt Olson ('08) (6-0, 6-1, #5).

In addition to these three players, Brian Huinker, Luther head coach noted the performance of Jono Martin ('08).

"I also was very proud of [him]," Huinker said. "He played with a lot of heart. He lost in a third set to Wartburg, but won two three-set matches earlier in the day that were huge for our team. Jono played hard for 8.5 hours Saturday."

Martin was defeated 5-7, 7-5, 11-9 against Mark Giesmann at number one singles.

"Jono Martin played his body into the ground at number one singles, and I respect him a lot for making the match so close," Wiklund said.

"We both volunteered to play the matches, and I think that was an overall good decision. Jono and I are both close with all of our teammates, and I think they had a lot of faith in our ability to pull out a big win at Wartburg."

The win against Wartburg gave the men a team record-tying 12th straight win.

"The manner in which we have won some of the meets says a lot about the attitude of our players," Huinker said. "Eighty percent of the time you lose the doubles point, you lose the meet, and we have found a way to win after dropping the doubles point three times."

Next, the team travels to Hilton Head Island, S.C. for spring break, where they will be facing eight teams in four days.

Huinker said that in preparation for the trip, he hopes the team will be able to practice on the outdoor courts this week, since the surface conditions are quite different from indoors.

Wiklund was looking forward to how the trip could enhance team development.

"Spring break . will be a major building block for the rest of the season for our young team," Wiklund said.

"We are playing some very tough teams no doubt, and if we can come away with some big wins, the last stretch of the season will be very exciting for the team and the school. I would encourage people to come and watch some excellent tennis this spring down at the new tennis courts."

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Jon Nelson

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