Vikings and Eagles Featured as UMAC "Game of the Week"
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Photo Credits - Bethany Lutheran and Northland Sports Information
*Article Credit - Sara Eisenhauer; UMAC Assistant Commissioner
Saturday, April 8, 2017 - Men's Tennis: Northwestern at Bethany Lutheran
ST. PAUL, Minn.--- Last spring, the University of Northwestern men's tennis team put out a solid effort to challenge for the
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's tennis title and put some sizeable distance between itself and the third-place Bethany Lutheran College squad.
To start the 2017 season, preseason expectations put Northwestern and Bethany Lutheran both in a position to challenge for the title as Bethany Lutheran edged out Northwestern by just one point for second place in the UMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
This weekend, the two program will finally meet to prove who has the upper-hand for the No. 2 spot in the conference heading into the later part of the season. The Eagles and Vikings will clash Saturday in Mankato, Minnesota, for the "UMAC Game of the Week."
Though it may have been a surprise from the outside perspective that Bethany Lutheran was picked to finish second, they have done enough already this season to show that the prediction could become a reality. The Vikings boast a 7-9 record – second-best behind league-leading College of St. Schoalstica – which includes several decisive 5-4 wins over schools like Loras College and Edgewood College.
Additionally, the Vikings have a conference win under their belts and took one game from a St. Scholastica squad that is already 5-0 in the UMAC and has distanced itself from the rest of the conference. Comparatively, the Eagles have played just the Saints in conference play dropping the match 9-0.
The Eagles have seen a slight drop off from a year ago when they finished with 13 wins and played in three competitive matches with the Saints including a narrow 6-3 loss in the final regular season match of 2016. Northwestern owns just four wins this season, but ended spring break with two-straight wins and out-dueled MSOE to a 5-4 victory earlier in the season.
A year ago, the Eagles took both regular season matches from the Vikings by a score of 7-2 before winning again in the semifinals of the UMAC tournament with an 8-1 decision. The Eagles finished with a 8-2 UMAC record losing to just the Saints twice, while the Vikings ended with a 6-4 record with all four losses coming to the Saints and Eagles.
Bethany Lutheran was balanced across singles and doubles having slightly better success at singles with a .600 (36-24) mark in conference play, while the Eagles excelled in doubles going 24-6 in 10 UMAC matches for a .800 winning percentage. This season, Bethany Lutheran has remained consistent in both singles and doubles seeing similar success and the Eagles will need to rely on singles success as they have struggle in doubles so far this season.
Heading into the season, the Vikings felt the loss of Brent Heflin who saw great success in singles play, but hoped to rely on the return of seniors
Jacob Kubler and
Andrew Jelken who have both been All-UMAC selections at least once in their careers.
The Eagles also entered the season with high hopes thanks to the return of three All-UMAC selections from last year in
CJ Lloyd – who has held down the No. 1 singles spot over the last two seasons – as well as
Landon Ridpath and
Josh Kimball.
At the beginning of the season, Bethany Lutheran was picked by the UMAC coaches to finish second in the Preseason Coaches' Poll with 19 points and one first place vote, while the Eagles were slated third with 18 points and a first place vote.
The Match Up
Though both teams still have a majority of their conference schedules remaining, Saturday's match can set the tone for rest of 2017 as the winner will be one game closer to catching the Saints and a second-place conference finish. It could also be the first of potentially three matches between the two squads this season if they finish second and third, respectively, and face off in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Bethany Lutheran got off to a quick start this spring after going 1-1 in the fall season. The Vikings grabbed two wins on their first date of play in 2017 from Edgewood and GrandView University. Just a few days later they suffered tough loss before getting a huge 9-0 win over Knox College. The Vikings have since earned three more wins including a 9-0 shutout of the University of Minnesota Morris to start off the conference season strong. They have not played since suffering a setback from the Saints on Saturday.
Northwestern had a tough start to the season losing three matches to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) schools before losing a 5-4 heartbreaker to Central College. Later that same day, they rebounded with a 8-1 win over Simpson College. The Eagles then lost six of the next seven before earning wins over Penn State University-Berks and UMass-Boston to end spring break. Their last match was a loss to St. Scholastica on March 25.
Need to Know – Bethany Lutheran
- The Vikings are just one win away from matching their season total a year ago.
- Jill Bailey took over as Head Coach prior to the start of the season – Bailey played collegiately at Gustavus Adolphus College during a period of national program success.
- Bethany Lutheran is 3-0 in matches this season that have been decided by just one game (5-4 decision).
Need to Know – Northwestern
- Northwestern's three returning All-UMAC players accounted for 52 percent of singles wins last season and were part of all 43 doubles victories.
- Those same three players account for 55 percent of singles wins this season.
- The Eagles have been shutout 9-0 in seven of their 11 losses this season.
Who to Watch – Bethany Lutheran
After missing last season due to illness,
Carter Dahl has made an immediate impact with a team-best eight singles wins to lead the Vikings at the No. 4 and 5 spots.
Kubler has been a key part of success with five wins at No. 5 singles and six in doubles, while
Jelken has carried a lot of weight on his shoulders picking up four victories at No. 1 singles and four wins at No. 1 doubles in partnership with
Dalton Werckman.
Dexter Jackson also has eight singles wins – with most at No. 6 singles – and has combined with Dahl for four doubles wins in the No. 3 doubles spot.
Who to Watch – Northwestern
Lloyd has again carried the team at the No. 1 spot picking up a team-high seven singles wins so far and earning UMAC Player of the Week honors once already.
Ridpath has carried the No. 2 singles spots earning five wins while the two have combined for three wins at No. 1 doubles.
Kimball has played a majority of the season at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles with three wins at each.
Turner Main and
Sam Bostrom each have four or more singles wins and have spent a majority of the season paired at No. 3 doubles.
The Basics
The conference matchup between Bethany Lutheran and Northwestern is set for this Saturday, April 8 at 10 a.m. The contest will take place at on the campus of Bethany Lutheran in Mankato.
The "Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week" is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the "UMAC Game of the Week".
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