MOLINE, Ill. – A 2-1 deficit in doubles was not too big an obstacle for Augustana as the Vikings swept the singles matches and the result was a 7-2 non-conference win over Illinois Institute of Technology on Friday, March 8 at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline, Illinois. Head coach Jon Miedema's team lost two of the three doubles matches but rebounded nicely in singles to move to 9-3 on the year.
 
It was a rough start to the match as only the number three team of senior Jack Morkin (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) and sophomore Rodrigo Medeiros (Reino, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) was able to pick up a victory. Morkin and Medeiros defeated Brody Croonquist and Davis Housman 8-5 at number three.
 
Sophomores Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) and Sriram Sugumaran (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) dropped an 8-6 decision at number one to Franklin Zhong and Pol de Santiago. The number two team of freshmen Kyle Boudreau (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) and Leonardo Panosso (La sale Caxias, Caxias Do Sul, Brazil) fell 8-4 to Yousef Abdo and Adam Laitinen.
 
Trailing 2-1, the Vikings rolled up six straight victories in singles to secure the win. Two of the matches went the full three sets. Sophomore Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia, Valencia, Spain) took care of Abdo 7-6; 4-6; 12-10 at number two and sophomore Guilherme Calixto (Calegria, President Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil) defeated Adam Laitinen 5-7; 6-4; 10-8 at number five.
 
Sophomore Caio DeRezende (Colegio Itoca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) beat de Santiago 6-1; 7-6 at number one. Sugumaran defeated Zhong 6-0; 6-1 at number three while Alex won 6-3; 6-4 over Housman at number four. Morkin picked up a 6-3; 7-5 win over Mohammed Shamel at number six.
 
Illinois Tech dropped to 5-6 on the year while Augustana won for the third straight time and the fourth in the last five matches. The Vikings will be in action again on Sunday, March 17 with a 10:00 a.m. match against Wisconsin-Whitewater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.