MOLINE, Ill. – It had been nearly a year since Augustana played a men's tennis match but the Vikings showed no signs of any rust in a convincing 9-0 whitewash of non-conference foe Wartburg on Friday, February 26 at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline, Illinois. Head coach Jon Miedema's team had not seen action since an 8-1 win over Edgewood back on March 7, 2021.
 
A 3-0 start in the doubles set the tone and in singles the Vikings only lost a total of five games and three players notched 6-0; 6-0 victories.
 
Seniors Caio deRezende (Colegio Itoca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia, Valencia, Spain) picked up an 8-1 win over Jackson Eells and Lucas Huffman at number one doubles to get the match started in the right direction for the home team. DeRezende beat Huffman 6-2; 6-0 at number one singles and Leal took care of Eells 6-0; 6-0 at number two singles.
 
Senior captain Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) combined with freshman Eliot Saint Paul (Ecole Diagonal, Paris, France) to defeat Cade Davis and Nile Petersen 8-3 at number two doubles. Alex later defeated Davis 6-0; 6-0 at number three singles while Saint Paul beat Petersen 6-0; 6-0 at number four.
 
The number three team of juniors Leonardo Panosso (La sale Caxias, Caxias Do Sul, Brazil) and Kyle Boudreau (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) fought off a tough challenge from Hunter Gerhardt and Jared Hefel before prevailing 8-6.
 
Junior Justin Cassens (Emerald Ridge HS, Puyallup, Wash.) beat Gerhardt 6-1; 6-0 at number five singles and freshman Jesse Dyer (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) defeated Jared Hefel 6-2; 6-2 at number six.
 
The Vikings will be in action again on Sunday, March 7 when they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to take on Coe.