The Ona Orth Tennis Complex got its first action of the season as the Bethel tennis team's played host to the University of Northwestern Wednesday afternoon. The men's team (5-6, 1-4 MIAC) swept the Eagles (5-9) for a 9-0 home win.
Despite some tight matches throughout the day, BU was able to battle and come out on top of each of them. In No. 1 singles
Hunter Fernelius fell behind after losing the first set 3-6 but rallied to win two straight sets 6-3 and 10-6.
Zach Kantor also had to fight from behind as he won the final two sets of his match to take No. 2 singles. Nick Knudson won his match in straight sets with a final of 6-3, 7-5. No. 4 singles was a three-set thriller in which
Zeke Delain battled back and came out on top 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 10-6.
Peter Lindberg and
Joey Mueller each one their matches in straight sets as well to round out the Royals perfect singles play.
Doubles play was more domination by the Royals: Fernelius and
Jakob Bartels took an 8-3 win in the No. 1 match while Kantor and
Noah Ridgway needed an extra game to decide their eventual 9-8 (7-3) win. No. 3 doubles was a dominating performance by Nick Knudson and
Zeke Delain as they pitched 8-0 shutout to keep BU perfect on the day.
The men's team has the second half of a back to back tomorrow, April 12, as they faceoff with Macalester College at the Baseline Tennis Center at 8 p.m. The Scots enter the matchup 7-4 with a perfect 4-0 record against MIAC opponents. The Royals hope to hand them their first conference loss of the season and earn two wins in two days.