Chris Habermann and Jesse Brace ran their number one doubles win streak to five matches on Wednesday night, but in the end it was the Loras College Duhawks who held off the Buena Vista men's tennis team inside of the Lamberti Rec Center, 5-4.
"I was disappointed we didn't get the win, but I am proud of how we fought out there today," said head coach Brett Groen. "This was by far our best effort from our top-three players."
Habermann and Brace rolled to an 8-0 win to get the match started and improved their doubles record to 11-5 on the year. Both players later went on to capture straight set singles victories as well and have combined to win seven more times playing solo.
"Chris and Jesse continue their doubles dominance," Groen added. "In singles, they both adjusted their games to help them win their matches, and that versatility has been coming along all season."
After dropping his first set, 7-5, Steven Will came all the way back in thrilling fashion to win the next two, 7-6 (7-5) and 6-1 and win for the second straight time in singles play. That came after a tough doubles defeat with Will Connelly, as the Duhawks rallied from 5-2 down to edge the duo, 8-6, in the number three match.
"After a great two matches on Saturday, Steven used that momentum and really played a flawless last two sets today to get us a much needed win in that three slot," Groen said.
Loras led 2-1 heading into singles play, and after Will rallied to win his number three singles match, Grant Wright came up on the short end of his comeback, falling 6-3 in the tiebreaker after bouncing back with a strong 6-4 win in set two.
"I'm a little disappointed that we aren't finishing some points as well as we should be at this point of the season," Groen noted. "We need to do a few more little things the right way to get us a few more easy points. Our effort is always there, but we should be able to get a few better results if we are always in the right spots."
The Duhawks went on to win the final two singles matches in straight sets without allowing more than three points in any of those four sets.
Buena Vista is now 1-14 on the year (1-1 IIAC) and will try and bounce back on Thursday afternoon when the team hosts Martin Luther in a non-conference match starting at 4:00pm.
