Augustana College Athletics

VIKINGS FINISH SEASON WITH 11-6 OVERALL RECORD AND THIRD PLACE FINISH IN COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN;
ERIC HANSON AND DAVID CURRIE EARN ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
 
Led by the all-conference duo of senior David Currie (Galesburg HS, Galesburg, IL) and junior Eric Hanson (Deerfield HS, Deerfield, IL), the Augustana Vikings finished the 2002 men's tennis season with a 12-6 overall record and a third place in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin.
 
Second year head coach Josh Baldridge led his team to a 5-2 mark in the CCIW and then watched as the Vikings placed third in the league tournament with 38 points. Wheaton won the conference tournament with 69 points and Carthage was second with 63. In the final CCIW standings Wheaton picked up 16 points while Carthage was second with 14 points, Augustana was third with 12 and Illinois Wesleyan took fourth with 10. Elmhurst (8), Millikin (5), North Park (4) and North Central (3) rounded out the standings.
 
The CCIW determines its men's tennis championship on a point-system basis with the first place team in the regular season standings getting eight points, the second place team seven points, etc. The teams are ranked again with the results from the CCIW tournament and the two point totals are added together to determine a conference champion.
 
Hanson, who handled the number one singles duties all year long, placed fourth at the CCIW tournament. He won his first match against Filip Gagovic of North Central by a score of 6-2; 6-3 before falling to eventual champion Oliver Oatman of Wheaton 6-3; 3-6; 5-7 in the semifinals. In the consolation round Hanson beat Zachary Crump of North Park 8-5 but lost to Steve Stitzel of Carthage 6-0; 6-1 in the third place match. Hanson finished the year with a record of 12-10 and was named first team all-conference.
 
Currie played second singles and also placed fourth in the CCIW tournament. He defeated Robin Henders of North Central 6-4; 6-4 in the opening round but lost to Brian Wu of Wheaton, the eventual champ, by a score of 6-0; 6-1 in the semis. In the consolation round he beat Duran Dismore of Elmhurst 8-2 and dropped a 6-3; 6-2 decision to Nate Deist of Carthage in the third place match. Currie was tabbed second team all-conference and ended the year with a 9-11 record.
 
David Sitko (West Aurora HS, Aurora, IL) had the top individual finish for Augustana at the CCIW meet, placing second at number three singles. He beat Ben Blaiszik of Elmhurst 6-2; 6-1 and then handled Nick Buscaglia of Carthage in the semi-finals 6-2; 6-4 before falling to Breck Schuelter of Wheaton in the championship match 6-3; 6-2. Sitko ends the year 15-5 overall.
 
At number four singles John Feehan (Illinois Math & Science Academy, East Moline, IL) took third. He beat Chris Harley of North Central 6-1; 6-0 to open up the tournament and then fell to eventual champ Joe Williams of Wheaton 6-2; 6-1 in the semis. After the loss Feehan regrouped and beat Robert Chong of Elmhurst 8-0 and Pat Fischer of Illinois Wesleyan 6-1; 6-0 for his third place finish. Feehan was 11-7 on the year.
 
Dan Rooney (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, IL) took third at number five singles with a victory over Andrew Giordano of Illinois Wesleyan by a score of 6-3; 6-4 in the third place match. Rooney beat Seth Killey of Millikin 6-3; 6-1 to start things off before falling to Mark Vaughan of Wheaton 6-0; 7-6 in the semi-finals. He bounced back to handle Matt Brolley of North Central 8-2 in the consolation semi-finals before beating Giordano for third to finish the year 15-5.
 
 Zack Mikulak (Elgin Larkin HS, Elgin, IL) placed fourth at number six singles. He beat Chris Brolley of North Central 6-3; 6-2 in the first round before falling to eventual champion Peter Hubbard of Wheaton 6-3; 6-2 in the semi-finals. Mikulak then beat Alan Hott of Millikin 8-3 in the consolation semis before losing to Doug Kasper of Illinois Wesleyan 6-3; 6-1 for third place. Mikulak was 9-4 this year in singles.
 
Hanson and Currie combined to finish third at number one doubles, beating the Elmhurst team of Hegner and Dismore 6-1; 6-2 in the third place match. For the season Hanson and Currie ended up 14-7. After beating Madan/Kavuri of Millikin 6-0; 6-1 to open the tournament they lost to Williams/Vaughan of Wheaton in a tough 6-3; 6-7; 6-1 semi-final. Hanson and Currie beat Hall/Crump of North Park 8-2 advance to the third place match.
 
At number two doubles the all-freshman team of Feehan and Rooney also finished third. They started the tournament with a 6-3; 6-1 win over Pihkala/Jackson of North Park before falling to Deist/Meske of Carthage in the next round by a score of 7-6; 6-0. An 8-5 win over Padilla/Barday of Millikin put them in the third place match against Blaiszik/Chong of Elmhurst, which Feehan and Rooney won 6-1; 6-0 to put the finishing touches on a 12-6 campaign.
 
The number three doubles team of Sitko and Mikulak placed fourth. They defeated Elzinga/Miller of Elmhurst 6-2; 6-1 in the first round before dropping a 6-3; 7-5 decision to Oatman/Hubbard of Wheaton in the semi-finals. After beating Ring/Brolley of North Central 8-3 in the consolation semis, Sitko and Mikulak fell to Weinert/Kasper of Illinois Wesleyan in the third place match to end the year 7-4.
 
Baldridge just completed his second year as the head coach of the Augustana men's tennis team and he now has an overall record of 19-15 with a mark of 9-5 in the CCIW, including back-to-back third place finishes in the league.
 
The 14 victories put up by the number one doubles team of Currie and Hanson is tied for ninth on Augustana's single season victory list with Gary Guenther/Steve Moe (14-4 in 1983) and Paul Hefter/Matt Norris (14-6 in 1996).
 
2002 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN FINAL STANDINGS
 

	OVERALL		CCIW
	WON	LOSS	WON	LOSS	Regular Season Points	Tournament Points	Total Points
Wheaton	18	6	7	0	8	8	16
Carthage	24	4	6	1	7	7	14
Augustana	12	6	5	2	6	6	12
Illinois Wesleyan	11	9	4	3	5	5	10
Elmhurst	9	7	3	4	4	4	8
Millikin	2	7	1	6	2	3	5
North Park	1	6	1	6	2	2	4
North Central	4	6	1	6	2	1	3

 
2002 CCIW TOURNAMENT
May 3-4, 2002 @ Smeds Tennis Center on the campus of Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin
 
TEAM SCORES: 1. Wheaton 69; 2. Carthage 63; 3. AUGUSTANA 38; 4. Illinois Wesleyan 35; 5. Elmhurst 10; 6. Millikin 5; 7. North Park 3, North Central 2.
 
TOURNAMENT MVP'S: Mike Meske, Carthage and Brian Wu, Wheaton
 

TOURNAMENT PLACING	CHAMPION	RUNNER-UP	THIRD	FOURTH
#1 SINGLES	Oliver Oatman, Wheaton	Phil Weinert, Illinois Wesleyan	Steve Stitzel, Carthage	Eric Hanson, Augustana
#2 SINGLES	Brian Wu, Wheaton	Will Weltmann, Illinois Wesleyan	Nate Deist, Carthage	David Currie, Augustana
#3 SINGLES	Breck Schueter, Wheaton	David Sitko, Augustana	Nick Buscaglia, Carthage	Jason Love, Illinois Wesleyan
#4 SINGLES	Joe Williams, Wheaton	Dan Roller, Carthage	John Feehan, Augustana	Pat Fischer, Illinois Wesleyan
#5 SINGLES	Mike Meske, Carthage	Mark Vaughan, Wheaton	Dan Rooney, Augustana	Andrew Giordano, Illinois Wesleyan
#6 SINGLES	Peter Hubbard, Wheaton	Mike Skalla, Carthage	Doug Kasper, Illinois Wesleyan	Zack Mikulak, Augustana
#1 DOUBLES	Steve Stitzel/Dan Roller, Carthage	Joe Williams/Mark Vaughn, Wheaton	Erik Hanson/David Currie, Augustana	Justin Hegner/Duran Dismore, Elmhurst
#2 DOUBLES	Nate Deist/Mike Meske, Carthage	Brian Wu/Breck Schuelter, Wheaton	John Feehan/Dan Rooney, Augustana	Ben Blaiszick/Robert Chong, Elmhurst
#3 DOUBLES	Mike Skalla/Zach Newhouse, Carthage	Oliver Oatman/Peter Hubbard, Wheaton	Phil Weinert/Doug Kasper, Illinois Wesleyan	Dave Sitko/Zack Mikulak, Augustana

 
2002 All-CCIW Men's Tennis Team
 
First Team

Eric Hanson	Augustana (Ill.)	Jr.	Deerfield, Ill. (Deerfield)
Nate Deist	Carthage	Sr.	Naperville, Ill. (North)
Phil Weinert	Illinois Wesleyan	Sr.	Geneva, Ill. (Geneva)
Oliver Oatman	Wheaton (Ill.)	Jr.	Brookfield, Wis. (Central)
Breck Schuelter	Wheaton (Ill.)	So.	Rockford, Ill. (Guilford)
Brian Wu	Wheaton	Jr.	North Potomac, Md. (Thomas Wootton)

 
Second Team

David Currie	Augustana (Ill.)	Sr.	Galesburg, Ill. (Galesburg)
Mike Meske	Carthage	So.	Grafton, Wis. (Grafton)
Dan Roller	Carthage	So.	Glen Ellyn, Ill. (Glenbard West)
Steve Stitzel	Carthage	So.	Itasca, Ill. (Lake Park)
Will Weltman	Illinois Wesleyan	Jr.	Deerfield, Ill. (Deerfield)
Joe Williams	Wheaton (Ill.)	Fr.	Naperville, Ill. (Central)