CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – Augustana was impressive in its opening match of the spring portion of the 2018-19 men's tennis season. The Vikings handled Wabash on Saturday, January 26 by a score of 8-1 at the Collett Tennis Center in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Originally the day was supposed to have a double dual with Augustana, Wabash and Hope but a snowstorm in Michigan made it impossible for Hope to make the drive down from Holland.
 
So it turned into a dual meet and the Vikings picked up a solid win over a Little Giant team that defeated them 5-4 in last year's season opener at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline, Illinois.
 
Augustana, which was 19-11 last year and won the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Championship for the first time since 1985, is now 2-0 on the season. The Vikings defeated St. Ambrose 8-1 in a dual meet last fall. Wabash drops to 0-1.
 
A sweep of the doubles let Augustana open up a 3-0 lead in the early going and they were never headed. The number three team of sophomore Rodrigo Medeiros (Rieno; Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) and freshman Kyle Boudreau (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) got on the board first with an 8-2 win over Nieshal Thambipillay and Evan Frank. The number one team of sophomores Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) and Sriram Suguraran (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) picked up an 8-3 victory over Patrick McAuley and Jordan Greenwell.
 
The third doubles point was a little harder to accomplish as senior Jack Morkin (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) and freshman Leonardo Panosso (La sale Caxias; Caxias Do Sul, Brazil) came up with a hard fought 8-7 triumph over Andrew Denning and Duncan Roy.
 
Alex kept up the Augustana success in singles as he was the first person off the court. He won at number four singles by a score of 6-3; 6-2 over Denning. Sophomore Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia; Valencia, Spain) clinched the team victory for the Vikings with a 6-7; 6-2; 6-2 win over Greenwell at number two.
 
Suguraran rolled past Roy 6-1; 6-3 at number four singles and sophomore Guillermo Calixto (Calegria; Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil) defeated Thambipillay 6-0; 6-1 at number five. Morkin closed out the match with a 6-1; 6-0 victory over Frank at number six.
 
Head Coach Jon Miedema's team will be in action again on Saturday, February 9 at home at the Quad City Tennis Club when Calvin (12:00 noon) and Edgewood (6:00 p.m.) come calling.