ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana closed a successful 2017 men's tennis season with a 5-0 loss to Wheaton in the championship match of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Tournament on Saturday, May 6 at the Lower Campus Courts in Rock Island, Illinois. The Vikings, who had a late season surge that saw them win 10 of their final 13 matches, finished their season with a 15-10 overall record.
 
Head coach Jon Miedema's team advanced to the title match with a 5-0 win over Elmhurst on Thursday, May 4 and a 5-1 victory against Millikin on Friday, May 5. The last time they played in the championship match of the CCIW was in 2015 when they lost 5-2 to Carthage in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
 
Wheaton, which is now 17-7 overall and was 7-0 in league play, jumped out to a 3-0 lead after doubles but two of those matches ended up 9-7. Augustana's number one team of juniors Samuel Totten (University HS, Normal, Ill.) and Eric Pohl (Fremd HS, Palatine, Ill.) lost 9-7 to Justin Ancona and Matt Steiner. The Vikings number three team of sophomore Jack Morkin (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) and senior Nicholas Prabhakar (Rockford Lutheran HS, Belvidere, Ill.) dropped a 9-7 decision to Josh Cheng and Andrew Bristol.
 
At number two doubles the Augustana senior duo of Conner Woolf (Evanston HS, Evanston, Ill.) and Jonathon Elsey (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) dropped an 8-3 decision to Dane Paulsen and Jeremiah Yi.
 
Elsey lost 6-0; 6-1 at number five singles to Cheng and freshman Scott Daluga (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) fell 6-2; 6-2 to Andrew Torok at number six.
 
Four singles matches went unfinished. Totten dropped his first set (6-3) to Ancona and was down 5-1 in the second at number one when the play was stopped. At number two Pohl lost 6-4 in the first and was trailing 5-4 in the second to Paulsen. Morkin hooked up with Steiner at number three and lost 6-2 in the first and was down 5-2 in the second. Woolf's match against Yi ended after he lost the first set 6-2 and was tied 4-4 in the second.