Carthage and Wheaton to Square off for CCIW Men’s Tennis Title Saturday

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Both Carthage and Wheaton have combined to win the last seven College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) men’s tennis championships. That trend will continue Saturday as the Red Men and Thunder face each other for the 2007 title.

The two teams will play in the Saturday title game at 1:30 p.m. at Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington.

Carthage advanced as a No. 1 seed, defeating No. 5 Illinois Wesleyan 9-0 in its semifinal match Friday, while No. 2 seed Wheaton earned a 7-2 victory over No. 3 Augustana.

Carthage’s Miguel Yunes won the No. 1 singles match against Illinois Wesleyan’s Dan Chang, 6-1, 6-0, while Yunes teamed up with Sergio Lopez at No. 1 doubles, winning 8-4 against Chang and Paul Oehrlein. Lopez was also victorious at No. 3 singles, winning 6-1, 6-1 over Illinois Wesleyan’s Joe Broucek.

Wheaton catapulted itself to victory against Augustana with wins in all six of its singles matches. Josh Williams defeated Augustana’s Tom Goebel, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1 singles, while Ian Kirchner defeated Rafael Romano, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 2 singles. Augustana did, however, pick up two victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, the team of Goebel and Geoff Schoon defeated Kirchner and Mike Simmerman, 8-6, while at No. 3 doubles, the team of Greg Ruth and Chris Mullin defeated David Warren and Kevin Graham 8-5.

In other matches, Illinois Wesleyan upset No. 4 seed Elmhurst 6-3 in the first round, while Augustana topped No. 6 seed and tournament host North Central 8-1.

Illinois Wesleyan picked up wins at Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6 singles as well as Nos. 1 and 3 doubles. Elmhurst’s Anthony McPherson however, was a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 winner over Chang, while Jake McNamara picked up the Bluejays’ other singles title, winning at No. 3, 6-3, 6-1 over Joe Broucek.

North Central’s only victory against Augustana was at No. 3 singles where David Walker topped Greg Ruth 6-1, 6-4. Elmhurst defeated North Central 8-1 in the fifth place match Friday night.

Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan will play in the third place match at 9 a.m. Saturday.