MOLINE, Ill. – It was a productive day on Saturday, March 30 for the Augustana men's tennis team as head coach Jon Miedema's bunch came up with a pair of victories. The Vikings defeated Dubuque 9-0 in the morning and then came back with a rousing 5-4 win over 38^th ranked (nationally) Grinnell in the nightcap. Both matches were played at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline, Illinois.
 
The battle with Grinnell matched a pair of teams with lofty rankings. The Pioneers came into the match ranked 10^th in the NCAA Division III Central Region and 38^th in the nation while Augustana was 11^th in the region. When the final ball dropped on Saturday, the Vikings moved to 13-4 overall while Grinnell dropped to 14-4.
 
AUGUSTANA 9, DUBUQUE 0
 
The Vikings had little trouble with the Spartans, who were playing with only five players and had to give away points at both number three doubles and number six singles.
 
Augustana sprinted to an early lead by sweeping the doubles and were never headed. The number one team of freshman Kyle Boudreau (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) and sophomore Rodrigo Medeiros (Reino; Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) picked up an 8-2 win over Jason Reddy and Devon Gerber. The number two unit of junior Scott Daluga (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) and senior Alex Riddle (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) beat Bogdan Ganeal and A. Cabrera Figueroa 8-3.
 
At number three doubles the Vikings team of junior Ryan Sullivan (The Gow School, Winnetka, Ill.) and freshman Justin Cassens (Emerald Ridge HS, Puyallup, Wash.) picked up a default victory.
 
Boudreau beat Figueroa 6-3; 6-4 at number one singles and Daluga defeated Reddy 6-3; 6-3 at number two. Riddle won at number three by a score of 6-1; 6-2 over Ganesa and Cassens took care of Gerber 6-1; 6-1 at number four. Sullivan defeated Sincere Davis 6-0; 6-0 at number five. Freshman Leonardo Panosso (La sale Caxias, Caxias Do Sul, Brazil) picked up a default victory at number six.
 
AUGUSTANA 5, GRINNELL 4
 
This battle between two highly ranked regional opponents (Grinnell was 10^th and Augustana 11^th) came down to the final two singles matches. Grinnell, which is also ranked 38^th nationally, led 4-3 with numbers three and four singles still on the court.
 
The Vikings had battled back from a 2-1 deficit after doubles and it was up to sophomore Sriram Sugumaran (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) at number three and sophomore Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) at number four to finalize the comeback.
 
Sugumaran, who last year played for Grinnell before transferring to Augustana in the summer, defeated Sam Stickels 6-2; 6-4 at number three to tie the match at 4-4 and then Alex beat Ben Cobin 6-4; 7-6 (7-3) to clinch the win.
 
Sugumaran and Alex were the lone winners for Augustana in doubles as they won at number one over Bowen Mince and Cobin by a score of 8-3.
 
Grinnell won at number two when Stickels and M.Conlin-Brandenburg beat sophomore Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia; Valencia, Spain) and Panosso 8-4. The number three doubles match was a tight won but the Pioneer team of Zach Lane and George Kaslow beat Caio deRezende (Colegio Itoca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Medeiros 8-7 (7-2).
 
The Vikings needed four wins in singles and they came from the top four positions in the lineup. Besides the victories by Sugumaran at three and Alex at four, deRezende beat Mince 6-4; 6-2 at number one and Leal beat Lane 6-0; 6-0 at number two.
 
Sophomore Guilherme Calixto (Calegria, Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo) fell 1-6; 3-6 to Brandenburg at number five and senior Jack Morkin (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) went down 6-1; 4-6; 1-6 at number six to Jack Lunn.
 
Augustana is in action again on Saturday, April 6 when North Central comes to town for a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin battle and St. Francis will also be here for a non-conference tilt.