EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Augustana men's tennis split a pair of matches against highly regarded opponents on Saturday, February 16 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The Vikings of head coach Jon Miedema defeated Wisconsin Eau Claire 7-2 in the morning and then fell 8-1 to a Carleton team that was ranked eighth in the Central Region and 37^th in the NCAA Division III national poll.
 
The win over UW-Eau Claire was only the second in the series for the Vikings against 10 previous losses. Augustana is now 5-1 on the season heading into its annual spring break trip to Florida which will start on February 24 with a match against Warner University in Orlando, Florida.
 
AUGUSTANA 7, UW-EAU CLAIRE 2
 
The Vikings picked up five wins in six singles matches to seal the victory over the BluGolds on Saturday, February 16 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
 
Augustana won two of the three doubles matches but when the action slid over to singles the Vikings broke things wide open.
 
In doubles Miedema's crew got wins at number one and number three. The number one team of sophomores Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) and Sriram Sugumaran (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) rolled past Grant Mauthe and Zach Janssen 8-2 while the number three duo of senior Jack Morkin (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) and Caio DeRezende (Colegio Itoca; Sao Paulo, Brazil) defeated Felipe Laporte and Renan Barros 8-3.
 
The number two team of sophomore Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia; Valencia, Spain) and freshman Leonardo Panosso (La Sale Caxias; Caxias Do Sul) dropped a hard-fought 8-7 decision to Daniel Schoen and Matt Christensen.
 
DeRezende defeated Janssen 6-4; 6-1 at number one singles and Leal beat Mauthe 6-2; 6-3 at number two. Sugumaran won a tough three setter (3-6; 6-1; 10-8) against Christensen at number three.
 
Alex beat Schoen 7-5; 7-5 at number four and Panosso battled his way past Adam Burk 2-6; 6-2; 11-9 at number six.
 
The lone Augustana loss in singles came at number five where UW-Eau Claire's Ethan Grissom beat sophomore Rodrigo Medeiros (Reino; Peloras, Rio Grande do Sul) 5-7; 6-4; 10-8.
 
CARLETON 8, AUGUSTANA 1
 
Carleton is ranked among the 40 best NCAA Division III teams in the nation and the Black Knights showed why with an 8-1 win over Augustana. The Vikings fell behind 3-0 after doubles and were never able to catch back up.
 
Two of three doubles matches were decided by a single point. At number two Leal and Panosso fell 8-7 to Aaron Goodman and Xander Zuczek while at number three that same score sent DeRezende and Morkin to defeat at the hands of William Walsh and Xander Roti.
 
The number one doubles match saw Carleton's team of Jordon O'Kelly and Leo Vithoontien (ranked 19^th in the nation) defeat Sugumaran and Alex 8-4.
 
Alex was the lone winner for the Vikings in singles as he won 6-0; 6-1 at number four over Sahil Chhugani.
 
Morkin had a close match at number six against Lewis White before falling 3-6; 7-6; 5-10.
 
Vithoontien, ranked 15^th in the nation in singles, beat DeRezende 6-4; 6-3 at number one and Walsh took care of Leal 7-5; 6-2 at number two. Goodman beat Sugumaran 6-0; 6-3 at number three.
 
Sophomore Guilherme Calixto (Calegria; Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil) lost 2-6; 5-7 to Roti at number five.