CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – It was an historic day in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Saturday, March 23 as Augustana defeated both Rose-Hulman and Coe by identical 5-4 scores in men's tennis. The Vikings were 2-18 in the all-time series against Coe coming into the match so the victory over the KoHawks was especially significant. It came against a team that was ranked 38^th in NCAA Division III. Head coach Jon Miedema's team also defeated Rose-Hulman for the second time this season, something that had never happened before.
 
Augustana is now 11-4 on the season with the two victories in Cedar Rapids. The Vikings will be in action again on Saturday, March 30 with matches against Dubuque (10:00 a.m.) and Grinnell (2:30 p.m.). Depending on the weather those matches will be played at either the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline, Illinois or at the Lower Campus Courts.
 
AUGUSTANA 5, ROSE-HULMAN 4
 
For the second time this season Augustana and Rose-Hulman hooked up in a close contest on the tennis court. This time the Vikings prevailed 5-4 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa after beating the Fightin' Engineers by a score of 6-3 in Orlando, Florida back on February 26 during spring break for both schools.
 
The Vikings jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play. The number one team of sophomores Sriram Sugumaran (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) and Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) defeated Andre Adam and Joshua Giambattista 8-2. The number three team of sophomores Caio DeRezende (Colegio Itoca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Rodrigo Medeiros (Colegio Reino, Pelotas, Rio Grande Do Sul) handled Joseph Conrad and Ben Strate by a score of 8-5 for the Vikings second win in doubles.
 
Augustana's number two team of freshman Leonardo Panosso (La Sal Caxias, Caxias Do Sul, Brazil) and sophomore Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia, Valencia, Spain) dropped an 8-6 decision to Ian Landwehr and Austin Perry.
 
Head coach Jon Miedema's team and Rose-Hulman split the singles matches with each team winning three.
 
Leal picked up a 6-2; 6-0 win over Adam at number and Sugumaran won a tough three setter over at number three (1-6; 6-2; 6-2). Alex won at number four by a score of 6-1; 6-1 over Conrad.
 
DeRezende lost 3-6; 5-7 to Landwehr at number one. Sophomore Guilherme Calixto (Calegria; Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil) fell 6-7; 6-7 to Giambattista at number six and Panosso dropped a 3-6; 6-3; 7-10 decision to Grant Stamper at number three.
 
AUGUSTANA 5, COE 4
 
The Vikings trailed 4-2 with three singles matches still on the court and managed to win all three to pull out the 5-4 win over Coe. These two teams had met 20 times in men's tennis down through the years and the KoHawks held a significant 18-2 series lead so this win over the 38^th ranked team in the nation was significant for Miedema's team.
 
With three singles matches left, DeRezende, Calixto and Medeiros were still battling at one, five and six singles respectively. DeRezende won first by a score of 6-4; 4-6; 6-0 over Josh Pudlo at number one to trim the lead to 4-3 and then Calixto and Medeiros claimed victories at approximately the same time to give the Vikings the win.
 
Calixto beat Ben Hediger 3-6; 6-4; 6-4 at number five and Medeiros beat Jon Lansing 6-4; 6-4 at number six.
 
Augustana also got a singles win from Alex at number four when he beat Nate Ackert 6-1; 6-3.
 
Coe won at number two where Nate Greiner defeated Leal 6-1; 6-1 and at number three where Rami Hernaidan beat Sugumaran 6-2; 6-3.
 
The Kohawks jumped ahead 2-1 after the doubles competition. Pudlo and Greiner beat Alex and Sugumaran 8-4 at number one and Ackert and Hernaidan defeated Leal and Panosso 8-0 at number two. Augustana got an important win at number three when Medeiros and DeRezende beat Bo Wilson and Hediger 8-3.