Luther's second match of the afternoon at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium, Madison, Wis., was a dandy. The Norse were defeated 5-4, in a match that had four three-set tie breakers in singles.
The Norse held a 2-1 advantage following doubles. The No. 1 duo of
Max Loen and
Nyathi Motlojoa ranked No. 9 in the NCAA III, defeated Demtri Bush and Tyler Grosz (8-1).
Joaquim Fernandes and
Luke Westholder won at No. 2 (8-6) over John Foley and Matt Gilbert.
Francisco Navarrete and
Ricky Portilla were defeated (8-1) at No. 3 by RJ Griffiths and Hunter Roseth.
In singles,
Luke Westholder at No. 2 retired due to injury leveling the match to 2-2. Motoljoa at No. 1 won in straight sets (6-3, 6-1). The other four singles matches were all decided in a third set tie breaker. Loen lost at No. 3 (4-6, 7-6, 8-10); Fernandes was defeated at No. 4 (4-6, 6-2, 4-10); and Eli Yound lost at No. 5 (6-3, 1-6, 5-10).
Nando Melo won at No. 6 (6-4, 0-6, 10-6).
Box Score (PDF)
Luther will travel to the Lake Geneva Tennis Center (WI) on Feb. 12-13. The Norse will face Wheaton College (9 am) and Grinnell College (1 pm) on the 12th, and UW-Whitewater (9 am) on the 13th.
