Chicago, Ill. - For the second consecutive season, the Illinois Tech men's tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships. Unfortunately this year's season ended in the same way as last season, with a second-round exit to a tough opponent. This year, it was to the #1 regionally-ranked University of Chicago Maroons, the tournament hosts, by a 5-0 score. The Scarlet Hawks finished the season with a 12-9 record overall.
Still, the Scarlet Hawks men's team has achieved a great run of success, winning the last three regular season and post-season conference titles, while making three consecutive NCAA appearances, including two second-round advancements. And with the team potentially returning all of their current squad, along with possible additions, the future continues to look bright for the program.
First-year head coach Kris Powell noted regarding the 2022 season: "With the men's team, we had to adjust. Some of our starters were out, so we quickly had to humble ourselves and play up, and make adjustments to doubles" Powell said. "I think this season helped us realize that you never know when it's your turn. Usually it's harder to win when it's expected, but we remained humble and got the job done. I'm looking forward to next year" Powell continued.
University of Chicago powered through doubles competition to open a 3-0 lead. The Maroon's number one pair of Christian Alshon and Derek Hsieh defeated Alann Torres and Jordan Lauer 8-1. In the number two doubles match, U-Chicago's Biren Reddy and Andrei Leonov defeated Davis Housman and Huy Ngo 8-3, while the Hawks' number three doubles pair of Nabil Fawaz and Pablo Marroquin Borque fell to Sachin Das and Alex Guzhva 8-0.
The Maroons used the number three and six singles matches to clinch the five wins needed for the match victory, as Das defeated Fawaz 6-1, 6-0 in the number three singles, while Marek Michulka defeated Huy Ngo 6-0, 6-0 in the number six match. The matches for Torres, Housman, Marroquin Borque and Lauer were left unfinished once the Maroons clinched the match victory.
Lauer added some perspective after the match. "I think it's really important we don't let our bad matches define us. Everybody has had a match or practice where we weren't particularly happy with how we played. It's about starting the next match better, and coming in with a blank slate and bring high energy" Lauer said. "We're all really good players, and when we are playing our best we our a solid team. So it's about putting the right foot forward, and keeping going no matter what happens" Lauer concluded.