ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's tennis team will play in its first CCIW Tournament title match since the 2021 season follow a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Carthage Firebirds on Friday.

The Vikings found themselves in an early hole after Carthage won the first two doubles contests to be completed. Kicking off a long singles portion, the Firebirds went up 2-0 after taking the No. 2 match. Arthur Hermange pulled Augie within one with a 6-2, 6-4 decision at No. 1.

Augustana won the first set in all four of the other matches, but ended up falling at No. 3 in three sets. Nicolas Navarro avoided a third set with a second-set tiebreaker win to claim No. 5 by a final of 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Trailing 3-2 as a team, Timothee Philip pulled the Vikings even at No. 6 after defeating his counterpart in a back-and-forth battle by a score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. With the match deadlocked at three points apiece, David Larraga closed out the final set at No. 4 with three straight games to earn a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 triumph to put the Vikings on top.

With the victory, Augie improves to 14-4 overall. The team will face off with top-seeded North Central tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the title match. Augustana won the lone meeting this season by a score of 4-3.