MOLINE, Ill. – Augustana made short work of North Central in the play-in match of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin men's tennis tournament on Tuesday, April 29 at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline, Illinois. The Vikings defeated the Cardinals 5-0 in a match that ended after just two singles matches.
 
Augustana swept the doubles, giving up just five points, to take a 3-0 lead heading into singles. Junior Lawrence Palmer (Schiller International School, El Prat de Llobregat, Spain) and senior Andy Wall (Notre Dame Academy, DePere, Wis.) started things off with an 8-0 win at number one doubles over Rustam Saini and Josh Rodig. Seniors Colin Arnold (Sterling HS, Sterling, Ill.) and Kevin Bayles (Homewood-Flossmoor HS, Flossmoor, Ill.) beat Connor Sass and Mason Sass 8-3 at number two doubles and freshman Connor Woolf (Evanston HS, Evanston, Ill.) and sophomore Austin Schoeck (Rock Island Alleman HS, Rock Island, Ill.) defeated Jesse Adamson and Aleksander Vasix 8-2.
 
With the 3-0 lead after doubles, the Vikings needed just two wins in singles to clinch the victory and move to the next round. Palmer ripped through Saini 6-0; 6-0 at number one singles and Wall beat Rodig 6-2; 6-1 at number two.
 
Bayles was leading Oliver Moews 6-1; 2-0 at number three and Arnold was ahead of Mason Sass 5-4 at number four. Woolf held a 6-1; 1-0 advantage over Adamson at number five and Lenz was beating Connor Sass 6-4 at number six.
 
Augustana is now 16-10 overall while North Central's season ends at 8-10. The fourth seeded Vikings will now take on number one seed Elmhurst (14-4 and 6-0 in the CCIW) on Friday, May 2 in one semi-final of the conference tournament, which will be played in Elmhurst. The second semi-final will feature number two seed Wheaton against third seeded Carthage. The championship match will be Saturday at 10:00 a.m.