Men’s Tennis Extends Winning Streak to Five Following Friday Sweep

VU-Mens-Tennis-Extends-Winning-Streak-to-Five-Following-Friday-SweepThe Valparaiso men's tennis team is now the owner of an 8-0 home record after a pair of shutouts over Olivet Nazarene and Chicago State at The Courts of NWI on Friday.

The Crusaders rolled to a 7-0 triumph over Olivet Nazarene in the morning match.

The Brown and Gold seized the doubles point with victories at Nos. 2 and 3. Sophomore Kyle Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) and junior Danny Oakes (Elburn, Ill./Saint Charles North) recorded a quick 6-1 win at No. 3 before Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio/Poland) and Lucas Waak (Manitowoc, Wis./Roncalli) clinched things following a 6-2 victory over Oscar Mancineiras/Tyler Ellis at No. 2.

ONU's Juan Lopez Morales and Rodolfo Sanchez collected a 7-5 win at No. 1 doubles versus Dave Bacalla (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) and Chase Hamilton(Hinsdale, Ill./Central).

Valpo went on to win all six singles matches, five of which came via straight sets.

Junior Michael Savaglio (Kenosha, Wis./Mary D. Bradford) shutout Tyler Lingle, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 5. Waak gave the Crusaders a 3-0 edge after his 6-3, 6-0 victory over Ellis at No. 4.

Junior Brian Hickey (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick) secured the team win for Valpo by virtue of his 6-2, 6-1 triumph at No. 6 versus Lucas Bolt. Gardner registered his then team-leading 16th victory at No. 3 singles with a 6-3, 6-1 result over Morales.

Playing at No. 2, Dunn won a three-set thriller over Sanchez, 6-2, 1-6, 10-6. Sophomore Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) put the icing on the cake with his 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 win at No. 1.

Valpo maintained its flawless home record by defeating Chicago State, 7-0, in the afternoon matchup. The Brown and Gold swept doubles play.

Schorsch and Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) moved to 17-4 on the season with a 6-2 dismissal of Mario Noboa/Sergiu Muresan at No. 1. Bacalla and Oakes teamed up at No. 2 doubles to defeat Rohan Wattley/Chris Gonzalez, 6-3. Hamilton and Waak added a 7-6 (7-2) triumph at No. 3 for good measure.

The Crusaders again steamrolled through singles action.

Hickey surrendered just one game at No. 6 in his 6-1, 6-0 victory over Luis Ulloa. He's now won seven in a row. Schorsch did the same in his contest at No. 2, defeating Julian Chavez, 6-0, 6-1.

Dunn clinched the win at No. 4 with a 6-2, 6-0 result over Rashley Yeremia. Emhardt went on to win his tilt against Gonzalez at No. 3, 6-2, 6-4. Savaglio registered his fifth consecutive singles victory, beating Wattley, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 5. Bacalla finished the day off with an exciting 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 10-8 triumph atop singles play.

Valpo (9-1) will close out the month of February versus #6 Illinois next Saturday at Notre Dame. The neutral site matchup will begin at 10 am ET/9 am CT.