Vikings battle way to championship match of CCIW Tournament; Finish season 14-13 overall; Lawrence Palmer named Most Outstanding Player in CCIW
 

Facing one of the toughest schedules in recent memory and battling injuries throughout the year, the Augustana men's tennis team saved its best for the end of the year. Head coach Jon Miedema's team finished the season with a 14-13 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, good for third place.
 
Senior Lawrence Palmer (Schiller International School, El Prat de Llobregat, Spain) was named the Most Outstanding Player in the CCIW and was also a first team all-conference selection for the third year in a row. He was joined on the all-conference team by freshman Samuel Totten (Normal University HS, Normal, Ill.).
 
After having to patch together his lineup during the first two months of the season, the Vikings finally got healthy down the stretch and won six of their final 10 matches. Included in that were wins in the CCIW Tournament in Kenosha, Wisconsin that propelled them into the championship match.
 
The CCIW Tournament opened on Thursday, April 30 with a convincing 6-0 win over North Central and that was followed by a thrilling 5-4 semi-final victory against Wheaton. Sophomore Connor Woolf (Evanston HS, Evanston, Ill.) defeated Wheaton's Karl Wenzel 3-6; 7-6; 6-3 at number five singles to provide the clinching point in that match.
 
The match was tied at 4-4 when Woolf pulled out his dramatic victory and moved the Vikings into the championship match against CCIW champion Carthage on Saturday, May 2 at 12:00 noon at the Smeds Tennis Center.
Augustana took a 2-1 lead coming out of doubles. Totten and fellow freshman Eric Pohl (Fremd HS, Palatine, Ill.) defeated Josh Ward and Wenzel 8-4 at number one. Woolf and junior Austin Schoeck (Alleman Catholic HS, Rock Island, Ill.) beat Brent Westergren and Derek Mumaw 8-5 at number three.
 
The number two team of senior Palmer and junior Harald Olsson (Hersby Gymnasium, Stockholm, Sweden) dropped an 8-6 decision to Justin Ancona and Matt Steiner at number two.
 
All three of the Vikings' wins in singles came in three-set matches.
 
Woolf's epic battle at number five clinched the victory but Palmer defeated Ward 6-3; 3-6; 7-5 at number one and Pohl beat Steiner 4-6; 6-3; 7-5 at number three before Woolf provided the clincher.
 
Totten dropped a 6-7; 2-6 decision to Ancona at number two and junior Patrick Lenz (Villanova Prep HS, Ojai, Calif.) lost to Lincoln Metz 2-6; 2-6 at number four. Schoeck fell 3-6; 3-6 at Mumaw at number six.
 
The win over Wheaton was satisfying because just three weeks earlier, on April 11, the Thunder pulled out a 5-4 decision on the Vikings' home court. It also put Augustana into the championship match against host Carthage on Saturday, May 2. Woolf and Schoeck won at number three doubles as Miedema's team fell behind 2-1 heading into singles play. The lone win for Augustana in singles came at number one where Palmer beat Pawel Jaworski 3-6; 6-4; 6-3. The final score ended up 5-2 in favor of the Red Men.
 
Heading into the 2015 season, Miedema was looking at having to replace three players (Colin Arnold, Andy Wall and Kevin Bayles) who combined for 406 total wins in their careers. Arnold is the school record holder with 152 while Wall is fourth with 131 and Bayles seventh with 123.
 
That's a lot of firepower and the Vikings relied on youth in the early going as freshmen Totten and Pohl occupied the numbers one and two singles spots in the lineup. Palmer studying in Australia during the first part of the season and when he came back he took over at number one. Eventually he would finish with an 8-3 mark in singles.
 
The team leader in singles victories was junior Patrick Lenz (Villanova Prep, Ojai, Calif.) with a 14-13 mark while playing at number three and four. Sophomore Jonathon Elsey (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) was 13-8 at numbers five and six. Also hitting the 13 win mark were Totten (13-14) and Pohl (13-19).
 
The top doubles team in terms of victories was the number one unit of Totten and Pohl who went 16-8. Schoeck and Olsson were next with a 15-8 mark at number two.
Palmer finished his career with 101 total victories (101-78) to move onto Augustana's 100-win list. He was also the John R. Olson Most Valuable Player for the third straight year. Schoeck and Totten shared the Hardest Worker award.
 
2014-15 CCIW STANDINGS
 

SCHOOL	CONF	OVERALL
Carthage	6-0	20-7
Wheaton	5-1	15-7
Augustana	4-2	14-13
Illinois Wesleyan	3-3	5-10
Elmhurst	2-4	9-11
North Central	1-5	7-14
Millikin	0-6	9-11

 
2015 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN TOURNAMENT 
April 30 through May 2, 2015 ** Smeds Tennis Center ** Carthage College ** Kenosha, Wisconsin
 
Thursday, April 30
Match 1: #2 Wheaton 5, #7 Millikin 0
Match 2: #3 Augustana 6, #6 North Central 0
Match 3: #5 Elmhurst 5, #4 Illinois Wesleyan 2

Friday, May 1
Match 4: North Central 5, Millikin 4
Match 5: Augustana 5, Wheaton 4
Match 6: #1 Carthage 5, Elmhurst 0
Match 7: Illinois Wesleyan 6, North Central 1 (fifth place)

Saturday, May 2
Match 8: Wheaton 6, Elmhurst 3 (third place)
Match 9: Carthage 5, Augustana 2 (championship)
 
2014-15 AUGUSTANA SUPERLATIVES
NCAA Division III Central Region Ranking: 20th
CCIW Finish: 2nd place at conference tournament after finishing third in regular season standings
CCIW Player of the Year: :Lawrence Palmer
CCIW All-Conference: Lawrence Palmer (1st team) & Samuel Totten (2nd team)
CCIW Academic All-Conference: Harald Olsson, Nicholas Prabhakar, Austin Schoeck & Samuel Totten
CCIW "Player of the Week": Samuel Totten (02/11/15); Austin Schoeck (02/18/15); Eric Pohl (04/29/15)
John R. Olson "Most Valuable Player": Lawrence Palmer (3rd year in a row)
Hardest Worker: Austin Schoeck (2nd year in a row) & Samuel Totten
 
TOP TEN LIST ADDITIONS
100-Win Club: 101, Lawrence Palmer (101-78)