AURORA, Ill. – The Wisconsin Lutheran College men's tennis team dropped a trio a three-set matches during singles play as host Aurora defeated the Warriors 6-3 Saturday afternoon in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference dual at Washington Middle School.
The Warriors began doubles play with an 8-4 win from Lee Johnson (Hales Corners, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) and Zach Birner (Neenah, Wis./Luther Preparatory) over Aurora's Ricky Hernandez and Brian Koski. The Spartans (1-2, 1-0 NACC) came out on top at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles by scores of 8-2 and 8-3, respectively.
Johnson opened singles play with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 1 to remain perfect in conference play at 4-0. The Spartans followed with five straight wins at No. 2 through No. 6 singles, including three three-set wins. At No. 2, Birner came up short 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, Austin Wagenknecht (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) dropped a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 decision at No. 5, and Ben Wordell (Lake Mills, Wis./Christian Academy Japan) suffered a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 loss at No. 6.
Wisconsin Lutheran (2-9, 1-3 NACC) is back in action next Saturday with a pair of conference road matches at Concordia Wisconsin (4-8, 2-0 NACC) and Lakeland (1-6, 1-1 NACC).
