2007 CCIW Men’s Tennis Championship Preview

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Six College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) schools will travel to Bloomington, Ill., this weekend looking to add a conference championship banner to the rafters as the CCIW Men’s Tennis Championship takes place April 27-28.

This will be the fourth straight season that the CCIW will use dual meet scoring for the men’s tennis championship.

Carthage head coach Brady Lindsley and company will look to earn their fourth straight championship and fifth in school history. The Red Men finished 5-0 against their conference counterparts during the regular season, earning the No. 1 seed for the upcoming championship. Carthage was ranked ninth in the March 15 Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s NCAA Division III poll. They recently swept a double-dual match, beating Lake Forest 8-1 and No. 28 UW-Whitewater 6-3. Against UW-Whitewater, Carthage’s Miguel Yunes beat Robin Borg 6-2, 6-3, moving his record to 20-4 overall. Borg is the son of tennis-star Bjorn Borg. Yunes is Carthage’s No. 1 player and is ranked 15th nationally.

On April 18, Carthage wrapped up its conference schedule with a 9-0 win over North Central. Yunes highlighted the win at No. 1 singles with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Billy Wangerow. In addition, Jack Schiro won at No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-1 against North Central’s Kaylan Jupalli.

No. 2 seed Wheaton finished 4-1 during the regular season, including its most recent victory, a 7-2 win against Elmhurst on April 18. Before a 7-2 loss to the University of Chicago on April 24, the Thunder had won five in a row. No. 1 singles player Josh Williams defeated Vivek Venkataraman from Chicago 6-2, 6-2 on April 24, and also defeated Elmhurst’s Anthony McPherson 6-3, 6-1. Wheaton’s No. 4 singles player Cory Kraftson earned the other victory against Chicago, a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win over Joseph Tchan.

Augustana picked up the No. 3 seed in the CCIW Men’s Tennis Championship with a 6-3 victory over Elmhurst on April 21. The win secured the Vikings a 3-2 record in conference play this season. Greg Ruth and Chris Mullin had an 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles, while Tom Goebel and Geoff Schoon won 8-3 at No. 3 doubles. Rafael Romero picked up the No. 2 singles victory with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Elmhurst’s Gregg Bayer.

Elmhurst was able to secure the No. 4 seed with a 6-3 win over North Central on April 24, while Illinois Wesleyan earned the No. 5 seed when they topped North Central 5-4 on April 21.

Women’s Tennis Automatic Qualifier Tournament
For the first time in the history of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), the women’s tennis teams of the CCIW will take part in a four-team tournament to determine the conference’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA’s national tournament.

The automatic qualifier tournament will take place April 27-28 on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill., and will feature the top four teams from the 2006 CCIW Women’s Tennis Championship, which was held in October and won by Wheaton. Joining Wheaton are Carthage, Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana.

Wheaton will be the No. 1 seed and will face No. 4 seed Augustana, while No. 2 seed Carthage will face No. 3 seed Illinois Wesleyan, with the winners of each match facing off for the championship. The No. 1 vs. No. 4 match is set to begin at noon on Friday, April 27, at Illinois Wesleyan, while the No. 2 vs. No. 3 match is slated for a 3 p.m. start. The championship match is scheduled for noon on Saturday, April 28 at Illinois Wesleyan.