Vikings win CCIW championship and advance to NCAA Tournament play for the second straight year; finish 25-7 overall and 7-0 in the league; break school record for dual-meet victories in a season; crown conference champions at three flights; Caio de Rezende, Alvaro Leal, Peter Alex and Sriram Sugumaran named to All-CCIW team; Jack Morkin named CCIW Championship Co-MVP; Sugumaran named CCIW Newcomer of the Year and Jon Miedema Coach of the Year
 
Coach Jon Miedema's Augustana men's tennis program won its second consecutive CCIW championship in 2018-19 and appeared in the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. With an overall record of 25-7, the Vikings shattered the previous school record for dual meet wins (22) and rolled to a 7-0 mark in CCIW play, winning 37 of 41 singles matches and 17 of 21 in doubles.
 
Augustana won CCIW titles at three flights, with sophomore Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) crowned at third singles and teaming with classmate Sriram Sugumaran (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) to win at first doubles. Another sophomore, Guilherme Calixto (Calegria, Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil), captured the title at number five singles.
 
When the conference doled out its awards, the Vikings cleaned up as well. Sophomores Caio de Rezende (Colegio Itoca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia, Valencia, Spain) were named to the All-CCIW first team and Alex and Sugumaran were second team selections. Sugumaran also collected Newcomer of the Year honors, while senior Jack Morkin (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) was named Co-MVP of the CCIW Championships. Miedema, the league's Coach of the Year three of the last four years on the women's side, won his second straight men's Coach of the Year Award.
 
After a 21-6 regular season, which included wins over nationally-ranked outfits from Coe and Grinnell, as well as its undefeated march through league play, Augustana rolled to 5-0 CCIW Tournament victories over Carroll and Carthage before dispatching Wheaton by a score of 5-1 for the championship. The Vikings opened NCAA Tournament play by avenging a regular season loss to Luther with a 5-0 win. Their record-breaking season came to an end in the second round with a 5-0 setback to eventual national semifinalist University of Chicago on the Maroons' home courts.
 
De Rezende held down the number one singles spot for Miedema this year. He finished 17-10 overall and 5-1 in CCIW play, falling only to CCIW Player of the Year Anderson Park of Wheaton. He had a one-set lead on Park in their unfinished match at the CCIW Tournament. Playing primarily with Morkin at third doubles, de Rezende posted a 13-11 record. Through two seasons, his career marks stand at 36-20 in singles and 30-19 in doubles.
 
Leal, in his first season at Augustana after transferring from Oakland City University, played at second singles and posted an 18-6 overall record with a 3-0 mark in CCIW play. He finished 7-12 in doubles, but 2-0 in the CCIW.
 
Sugumaran went 14-7 playing primarily at third singles. The transfer from Grinnell College teamed with Alex to set a school record for single-season doubles wins as a team. The Vikings' number one duo finished with a 22-12 mark. In CCIW play, Sugumaran finished 2-0 in singles and 6-0 in doubles.
 
Playing at first doubles and anywhere from two to four in singles, Alex finished the season with respective records of 23-12 and 22-4 to tie for second in program history for single-season wins in each category. He came up one win shy of the school record of 23 singles victories, held by current Augustana assistant coach Jack Cullen (2009-10), and two short of Kevin Bayles' (2012-13) record of 25 doubles wins. Alex is a two-time conference champion at number three singles and teamed with Sugumaran to win this year's title at first doubles after capturing last year's second doubles crown with partner Tom Friberg. This year's Viking MVP will enter his junior season with career marks of 39-14 in singles and 43-26 in doubles.
 
Playing anywhere from third to fifth singles, Calixto went 12-15 this year and is now 23-21 for his career. He won both of his doubles matches and carries a 7-2 career record. He shared Augustana Most Improved Player honors with classmate Rodrigo Medeiros (Colegio Reino, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil).
 
Morkin went 14-7 in both singles and doubles this year and finished his career 11th on the Vikings' all-time total victory list with 120. His 64 career doubles wins rank 12th in program history, while his 56 singles victories are tied for 12th all-time.
 
2018-19 CCIW STANDINGS

SCHOOL	CONF	OVERALL
AUGUSTANA	7-0	25-7
Wheaton	6-1	12-10
North Central	5-2	18-7
Millikin	4-3	14-7
Carthage	3-4	16-10
Elmhurst	2-5	7-12
Illinois Wesleyan	1-6	5-13
Carroll	0-7	2-19

 
2019 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN TOURNAMENT 
May 2-4, 2019 ** North Central College ** Naperville, Illinois
 
Thursday, May 2
#3 North Central 5, #6 Elmhurst 0
#2 Wheaton 5, #7 Illinois Wesleyan 0
#5 Carthage 5, #4 Millikin 1
#1 Augustana 5, #8 Carroll 0
 
Friday, May 3
#6 Elmhurst 5, #7 Illinois Wesleyan 4
#4 Millikin 5, #8 Carroll 1
#1 Augustana 5, #5 Carthage 0 
#2 Wheaton 5, #3 North Central 2
#7 Illinois Wesleyan 5, #8 Carroll 4 (7th Place)
#4 Millikin 5, #6 Elmhurst 0 (5th Place)
 
Saturday, May 4
#5 Carthage 5, #3 North Central 2 (3rd Place)
#1 Augustana 5, #2 Wheaton, 1 (Championship)
 
2018-19 AUGUSTANA SUPERLATIVES
CCIW Finish: 1st
CCIW All-Conference:  Caio de Rezende (1st team); Alvaro Leal (1st team); Peter Alex (2nd team); Sriram Sugumaran (2nd team)
CCIW Individual Flight Champions: Peter Alex (#3 singles), Guilherme Calixto (#5 singles), Peter Alex & Sriram Sugumaran (#1 doubles)
CCIW Championship Co-MVP: Jack Morkin
CCIW Newcomer of the Year: Sriram Sugumaran
CCIW Coach of the Year: Jon Miedema
CCIW Player of the Week: Caio de Rezende (03/13/19); Sriram Sugumaran (04/03/19)
ITA Central Region Team Ranking: 12th
ITA Central Region Singles Ranking: Caio de Rezende, 24th
CCIW Academic All-Conference: Kyle Boudreau, Justin Cassens, Caio de Rezende, Alvaro Leal, Rodrigo Medeiros, Jack Morkin, Sriram Sugumaran

SCHOOL RECORDS
Single-season Dual-meet Wins: 25
Single-season Doubles Wins—Team: 22, Peter Alex & Sriram Sugumaran
 
TOP TEN LIST ADDITIONS
Season Singles Wins: 22, Peter Alex (22-4), 2nd
Season Doubles Wins: 23, Peter Alex (23-12), T-2nd; 22, Sriram Sugumaran (22-12), T-7th
Season Doubles Wins—Team: 22, Peter Alex & Sriram Sugumaran (22-12), 1st
 
TEAM AWARDS
Most Valuable Player: Peter Alex
Hardest Worker: Scott Daluga
Most Improved: Guilherme Calixto, Rodrigo Medeiros