NEW BERLIN, Wis. - The Wisconsin Lutheran College men's tennis team wrapped up its regular season schedule Saturday by defeating NACC opponents Aurora, 6-3, and Rockford, 9-0, at the Princeton Club. Not only did the Warriors clinch the fourth seed in the upcoming conference tournament, but they also set new single-season records for both overall and conference victories.
The Warriors opened their first match of the morning against the Spartans (6-6, 6-3 NACC) by taking the first two flights of doubles play as Lee Johnson (Hales Corners, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) and Zach Birner (Neenah, Wis./Luther Preparatory) and Ryan Sallmann (Waukesha, Wis./West) and Derek Sallmann (Waukesha, Wis./West) were each victorious 8-6 at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
Wisconsin Lutheran captured four of six singles flights with Johnson winning 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1. Derek Sallmann was a 6-2, 6-0 winner at No. 4, Adam Breister (Fond du Lac, Wis./Winnebago Lutheran) won in three sets (6-3, 2-6, 10-6) at No. 5, and Jeremy Vanderhyde (Aurora, Colo./Rocky Mountain Lutheran) took care of business with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 6.
WLC had little trouble in its second match of the day against the Regents (0-9, 0-9 NACC). Johnson and Birner opened with an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles, followed by an 8-0 win from Ryan Sallmann and Derek Sallmann at No. 2. Breister and Vanderhyde won by default at No. 3.
Rockford won just one game in all of singles play as WLC collected 6-0, 6-0 sweeps at No. 2 through No. 4 singles. Johnson claimed a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 1, while Breister and Vanderhyde both won by default at No. 5 and No. 6 singles.
The fourth-seeded Warriors (10-9, 7-2 NACC) make their second straight NACC Tournament appearance Monday when they host fifth-seeded Aurora. The winner advances to Friday's semifinal round in Madison to face either top-seeded MSOE or second-seeded Edgewood.
