FOND DU LAC, Wis - The Wisconsin Lutheran College men's tennis team swept through the doubles matches and secured five straight singles wins on the way to its first victory of the season, an 8-1 triumph over Ripon at Center Court Tennis Club Saturday.
Lee Johnson (Hales Corners, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) and Zach Birner (Neenah, Wis./Luther Preparatory) opened the scoring for the Warriors with an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles over Eric Seiler and Brian Schumacher of Ripon. Ryan Sallmann (Waukesha, Wis./West) and Derek Sallmann (Waukesha, Wis./West) kept things going at No. 2 doubles, pounding out an 8-1 victory over Lincoln Wurtz and Tyler Hopewell. Jeremy Vanderhyde (Aurora, Colo./Rocky Mountain Lutheran) and David Parez (Milwaukee, Wis./Thomas More) finished off the sweep with a 8-6 win over Ryan Slowinski and Anders Goodwin at No. 3 doubles.
At No. 1 singles, Johnson took the only loss of the match for WLC, falling 6-4, 6-1 to Seiler. Ryan Sallmann made quick work of Slowinski at No. 2 singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win.
Birner collected a hard-fought 6-7 (0-3), 7-5, 12-10 victory over Schumacher at No. 3 singles. Derek Sallmann also battled through a super tiebreaker at No. 4 singles, defeating Wurtz 4-6, 6-2, 10-4. Adam Breister (Fond du Lac, Wis./Winnebago Lutheran) secured a 6-1, 6-2 win over Hopewell at No. 5 singles and Vanderhyde edged Jeffrey Grinde 5-7, 6-3, 10-8 at No. 6 singles.
WLC (1-2) returns to action March 12 in Orlando, Fla., with a match against Colby-Sawyer at 8 a.m.
