GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University men's tennis team suffered its first defeat of the conference by a 5-2 final against Kalamazoo College on Saturday in a battle for the MIAA regular season championship at Strikwerda Tennis Center.
Calvin (8-8, 6-1 MIAA) and Kalamazoo (13-4, 7-0 MIAA) both entered the day at 6-0 in league play and battled back and forth throughout in a hotly contested match from start to finish.
The Knights' two-doubles team of
Felipe Sartori (Estr. Basiléia/Colégio Giusto Zonzini) (6-4, 6-1) and
Diego Castellanos (Tarija, Bolivia/La Salle Tarija) won 6-2, but the Hornets won in both the one and three spots 7-5 to secure the doubles point and a 1-0 overall lead.
In singles,
Caleb Bartels (Loch Lloyd, Mo./Kansas City Christian) won 6-2, 6-4 in the number-two spot, and
Tanner Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) won 6-4, 7-5 in the sixth spot to give Calvin two wins, but the Knights needed four singles wins to overcome the deficit.
The Hornets got strong play up and down the line-up and were able to clinch the team win with straight sets wins in the one, three and five spots, as well as a three-set tiebreaker win over Castellanos in the four-singles spot with a 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) win.
In defeat, the Knights finished the regular season 6-1 in league play and will enter next week's MIAA Tournament as the number-two seed. Calvin will have a bye in the opening round before playing the winner of the 3/6 match-up between Hope College and Albion College on Wednesday, April 29, at Strikwerda Tennis Center at 4:00 PM.
