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Fighting Scots tennis team headed
to playoffs for first time
Release Date: April 25, 2006
MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Monmouth
College men’s tennis team will make its first-ever appearance in the
Midwest Conference team championships in Madison, Wis., on Friday
after finishing second in the MWC’s South Division.
Monmouth will play North Division champion Ripon at 9 a.m. Friday,
and the Fighting Scots already own a 5-2 victory over the Red Hawks
this spring. The other semi-final pits South Division champion
Grinnell against St. Norbert, and it’s possible that Monmouth could
meet Grinnell for the second time in seven days, this time with a
championship on the line.
The teams met Saturday in Grinnell, with the Pioneers winning 6-1.
“We didn’t back down from them,” said Monmouth coach Chad Braun.
“Right off the bat, we nearly got the doubles point.”
The Scots’ lone point came from Matt Moser, who won 7-5, 7-6 at No.
5 singles to extend his winning streak to 13 matches. Moser also won
8-4 at No. 3 doubles with Alex Carter.
Following the Grinnell match, Monmouth closed out the regular season
with a 7-0 victory over Simpson to improve to 21-7 on the year.
“It’s going to be tough to defeat Ripon a second time,” said Braun
of the upcoming tournament. “Their coach, Chuck Larson, just
announced his retirement, and they’re going to want to send him out
the right way and make it to the championship.
“But our kids are ready. Even though we’re the babies of this group
and the other teams have made their living at the playoffs the last
few years, we’re not going to back down.”
This marks the third straight year that Grinnell, Ripon and St.
Norbert have comprised three-fourths of the tournament field.
“Grinnell’s players and their coach said to us afterward that they’d
probably see us again on Friday,” said Braun of the championship
match, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday. “We hope that’s the
case. Their coach also sent a nice letter to (athletic director)
Terry Glasgow, saying the college should be proud of our team. I
thought that was a very classy thing for him to do.”
Singles and doubles play follows on Saturday and Sunday, and the
Scots will likely own one No. 1 seed, as Moser should be top-ranked.
Several other Scots will be seeded second or third, and Carter and
Moser have an outside shot at the top seed at No. 3 doubles.
Friday’s action factors into the seeding, which is why they have not
already been determined.
Also competing for the Scots will be Galesburg’s Brandon Stacey,
Dunlap’s Jared Kunkle, Kevin Kamerjarin and Quincy’s Kyle Korb.
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