A season for the record books

by Dustin Looney
Courier Staff

The Monmouth College men’s tennis team ended its regular season with a 22-8 record by beating St. Norbert College and taking third in the Midwest Conference.

Their impressive record was over twice as many victories as their previous best in a season, which was nine.

The Fighting Scots’ effort throughout the season was good enough to earn them a place in the Midwest Conference Tournament for the first time in school history. The team lost to Ripon College in the first round of the tournament.

According to head coach Chad Braun, “We should have had a psychological advantage over Ripon, because we defeated them earlier in the season, 5-2.”

“I felt like we were playing very good tennis going into the tournament, and I felt good about our chances against Ripon,” said Braun.

Monmouth was surprised Friday, however, as they fell to Ripon 4-3 in the first round. The Scots lost despite a strong effort from sophomore Matt Moser, who defeated Dan Weiler of Ripon 6-0, 6-1.

Moser’s personal achievements did not stop there, as he went on to become Monmouth’s first singles champion since 1969.

The Fighting Scots did not change their seeding positions for the tournament, seeing they have worked well where they have been all season. The team played: sophomore Brandon Stacey at number one singles, junior Jared Kunkle at number two, sophomore Kevin Kamenjarin at number three, freshman Kyle Korb at number four, Moser at number five, and junior Alex Carter at number six.

The doubles lineup consisted of: Stacey and Korb at number one, Kunkle and Kamenjarin at number two, and Carter and Moser at number three.

Half of the six contributing tennis players listed above were rewarded for their personal achievements by being named an MWC Performer of the Week, including Stacey, Korb and, most recently, Moser.

Although the team could not use its psychological advantage to knock off Ripon, they were offered an opportunity for some consolation.

The MC tennis team defeated St. Norbert College 4-0 for third place in the MWC Tournament on Saturday.

Regardless of what happened last weekend in Madison, this season has been a very successful one for Monmouth, and they hope to build on their accomplishments next year.

The most important part for the young team was making the conference tournament, and that is the main aspect that separates this season from the last couple of seasons. MC’s captain, Kunkle, summed it up best when he said, “This year has been a lot better than the last couple years, because we made the conference tournament, not just because we have won more matches.”