ELMHURST, Ill.  – Freshman Eliot St. Paul (Ecole Diagonal, Paris, France) won the clinching match in three sets Friday as Augustana defeated Carthage 5-2 in a CCIW Tournament semifinal at the Brune Tennis Courts. Coach Jon Miedema's men improved to 11-6 on the season and advanced to the finals against North Central at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 8.
 
The Firebirds jumped in front when Kevin Dunn and Cooper Ferruzzi defeated junior Kyle Boudreau (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) and senior Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) 8-6 at number two, but the Vikings grabbed the other two matches to lead 2-1 heading to singles.
 
Juniors Justin Cassens (Emerald Ridge HS, Puyallup, Wash.) and Leonardo Panosso (La Sale Caxias, Caxsias do Sul, Brazil) were 8-6 winners over Tripp Schulte and Andre Anttreasian at third doubles and seniors Caio de Rezende (Colegio Itoca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia, Valencia, Spain) defeated Nicolas Welker and Matt Krzewinski 8-5 at number one.
 
Five of six singles matches went three sets. Panosso downed Ferruzzi 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 at number four and de Rezende extended Augustana's advantage to 4-1 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Schulte at number one.
 
At sixth singles, Chris Mitev scored a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Cassens, but St. Paul's 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Antreassain at number five clinched the Viking victory.
 
When play was halted, Alex led 4-1 in the third set at number three against Krzewisnki and Leal trailed 0-1 in the third set of his second singles match versus Welker.