EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team picked up its second win of the season with a 7-2 nonconference victory of the Milwaukee School of Engineering at the Olson Indoor Courts.
The Vikings swept the three doubles matches, and Jason Dunn, Max Zlevor, Caleb Ray and Cooper Smith all had victories in the Nos. 1-4 singles match.
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The UW-Eau Claire men’s tennis team topped Lawrence University 9-0 in a nconference match on Saturday at the Olson Indoor Courts.
LA CROSSE, Wis. — The UW-La Crosse men’s tennis team posted a 9-0 shutout of Lawrence University on Friday. Lawrence falls to 1-2 on the season.
The Lake Forest College men’s tennis team edged Lawrence University 5-4 in a nonconference match on Saturday at Fox Cities Racquet Club.
The Foresters took the top three singles matches and the top two doubles matches for the victory.
Lawrence got wins at No. 3 doubles and at Nos. 4-6 singles from Cooper Smith, Craig Sherwood and Jeremy Andereck.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team opened its spring season with an 8-1 nonconference victory over Concordia (Wis.) University on Friday night.
Lawrence (1-0) swept the doubles from the Falcons (0-2) and won all but one singles match.
Jason Dunn led the way for the Vikings by rallying from one set down to post a 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-5) victory at No. 1 singles. Caleb Ray, Cooper Smith, Craig Sherwood and Jeremy Andereck swept the Nos. 3-6 singles.
Lawrence University tennis coach Kevin Girard teamed with his brother to win the Class A doubles championship at the 64th Annual Michigan-Wisconsin Open this past weekend.
Girard and his brother, Brett, beat Rick Halverson and Anders Sandholm 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, to win the championship in Escanaba, Mich.
The Girard brothers, both former standout players at Michigan Tech, beat a team made up of the Michigan Tech assistant coach and one of the Huskies’ current players. The team of Halverson and Sandholm took the opening game of the third set, but the Girards picked up a service break to go up 2-1 and went on to take the decisive final set.
It was the second title of the weekend for Brett Girard, who beat Mark Stinski of Oshkosh, Wis., 7-6, 6-2, in the Class A singles final.
Coach Girard is set to begin his fifth year as Lawrence men’s and women’s coach. Girard’s Vikings have won a combined three Midwest Conference North Division championships. Girard also has coached players to both the men’s and women’s No. 1 singles titles in the conference.
MADISON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team finished in sixth place at the Midwest Conference Championships, which wrapped up Sunday with the doubles competition at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Lawrence, which finished with 34 points, got its best performance of the day from No. 1 doubles team Jason Dunn and Max Zlevor. Dunn and Zlevor reached the semifinals but fell to eventual champions Juan Carlos Perez and Dmitriy Glumov of Grinnell College 6-4, 6-0.
The No. 2 doubles team of Caleb Ray and Jeremy Andereck lost in the quarterfinals, but then beat Jackson Vogel and Derrick Winterhack in the consolation semifinals. Ray and Andereck then lost to Matt Joost and John Silseth of Carroll University 8-6 in the consolation final.
The No. 3 team of Bile Ali and Roy Wimer beat Ripon’s Jeffrey Mehlert and Xia Xiong 6-0, 6-2 in the first round but were eliminated with a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Matt Lobeck and Josh Sweere of St. Norbert College in the quarterfinals.
MADISON, Wis. — Jason Dunn and Caleb Ray were the Lawrence University men’s tennis team’s top finishers on Saturday during the singles competition at the Midwest Conference Championships.
Both Dunn and Ray reached the semifinals of their respective flights before being eliminated at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Dunn, playing No. 1 singles, defeated Derek Harrington of St. Norbert College 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Defending conference champion Juan Carlos Perez of Grinnell College then beat Dunn 6-3, 6-0 in the semifinals.
Ray, playing No. 2 singles, also picked up a win in the quarterfinals when he beat Seth Pamperin of Carroll University 7-5, 6-2. Monmouth College’s David Johnson then beat Rayn 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals.
At No. 3 singles, Max Zlevor won the first-round match before being eliminated in the quarterfinals. At No. 4 singles, Jeremy Andereck lost in the quarterfinals but won a consolation match before losing to St. Norbert’s Nick Acosta in the consolation final. Roy Wimer did not win a match at No. 5 singles, and Bile Ali won the first-round match before being eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The doubles competition takes place on Sunday.
This is uncharted territory for the Lawrence University men’s tennis team.
All but the freshmen on this team are used to playing three days at the Midwest Conference Championships, set for Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison this weekend. For the first time since 2007, the Vikings failed to qualify for the four-team tournament that determines the top two finishers in the league.
That doesn’t mean that the Vikings don’t have a whole lot to play for when the singles and doubles are contested on Saturday and Sunday.
“We can still get third place in the conference,” Lawrence coach Kevin Girard said. “We can still end up in front of Carroll and St. Norbert so that keeps the guys pretty motivated.”
Lawrence finished third a season ago, and this was going to be a bit of rebuilding year after losing three starters, including top singles player and former league champion Ryan Dunn to graduation.
Dunn has been replaced by his younger brother, Jason, who moved up to No. 1 singles after playing No. 3 a season ago. Dunn put together a 9-9 singles record this season and is just starting to play his best tennis.
“Anytime you play No. 1 singles, you don’t ever get a day off,” Girard said. “Jay has been playing very well, very focused. He can beat anybody. He’s got tons of talent, and he’s starting to realize that as well.”
Girard said the key for Dunn will be his ground strokes if he wants to get a shot at Grinnell’s Juan Carlos Perez, the league’s defending champion.
“Jay’s return of service is probably the best in the conference,” Girard said. “If he’s hitting the ball well from the baseline, his opponent is in trouble. That’s what he’s been working on all season.”
The Vikings are also looking for big things from Caleb Ray, who won the consolation title at No. 2 singles last season. The sophomore from Austin, Texas, is 11-8 this season and is riding a five-match winning streak.
“This is the best I’ve seen Caleb play. Mentally, you’re not going to find anyone tougher on the court,” Girard said. “He’s super scrappy and super gritty. He pretty much ticks you off. He’s not fun to play against.”
Sophomore Max Zlevor moved from No. 5 singles to No. 3 this season and has managed only three wins, but Girard has a lot of confidence in the Racine native.
“Max has a ton of talent. He just has to get over that hump,” Girard said. “He has a ton of weapons and a ton of firepower. He just needs to string it together.”
Dunn wins POW
Dunn was named the MWC Player of the Week after going unbeaten in singles and doubles this past week. Dunn posted a 6-0 record, going 3-0 at No. 1 singles and 3-0 with Zlevor at No. 1 doubles. It was the first time in his career that he earned the weekly conference award.
Routing Ripon
The men’s tennis team beat Ripon 9-0 last Saturday, and that marked the third consecutive season the Vikings had shut out the Red Hawks. It’s also the first time in Lawrence history that the Vikings beat Ripon 9-0 three consecutive times.
Pechan takes second
Freshman golfer John Pechan finished second at the MWC Championships at Aldeen Golf Club this past weekend. Pechan carded rounds of 82, 75 and 78 on the par-72 layout to finish second by three shots. It was the highest finish for Lawrence golfer since Appleton native Joe Loehnis tied for first in 2006 and lost a playoff for the title.
Fast company
The men’s 400-meter relay team took first place at the UW-Whitewater Invitational this past Saturday, marking the first time in recent memory that Lawrence has won that event at a large invitational. The time of 46.84 seconds was posted by Sam Wagner, Jon Bruehl, Cam Blegen and Jesse Peterson.
Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a weekly notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.
Lawrence University men’s tennis standout Jason Dunn has been named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week.
Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac), a sophomore, posted a perfect record on the week in both singles and doubles to lead the Vikings to victories in two of three dual matches.
Dunn started his week with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles against Illinois College last Friday and teamed with Max Zlevor (Racine, Wis./Prairie) for an 8-1 victory at No. 1 doubles. Lawrence defeated the Blueboys 9-0.
In a 9-0 victory over Ripon College last Saturday, Dunn recorded a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles and rolled to an 8-2 victory at No. 1 doubles. Lawrence defeated the rival Red Hawks 9-0 for the third consecutive season.
In a 5-4 loss to St. Norbert College on Sunday, Dunn won 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) at No. 1 singles and picked up an 8-5 victory at No. 1 doubles.
Dunn, who will play in the Midwest Conference championships this weekend, improved to 9-9 in singles and 8-11 in doubles.
