Millikin Tennis Opens CCIW Tournament with Win

The Millikin men's tennis team opened up play in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament with a 6-0 win over the North Central Cardinals. The tournament, being hosted by Augustana College is a three day tournament featuring all eight of the CCIW men's tennis playing schools.

The Big Blue opened up the match with the Cardinals by sweeping the doubles. Jacob Palley/Jacob Hamilton opened up the contest with an 8-4 win. Following the win at number one doubles was a comeback win at number two doubles by Connor Sacks/Emerick Fulton. The Millikin duo fell behind 5-3, before winning the next five games to earn the 8-5 win. Completing the doubles sweep was Dane Pierantoni/Greg Schwoeppe who earned the 8-6 win at number three doubles.

With the match being played to decision, the Big Blue got the fourth point when Sacks, playing at number three singles earned a 6-0, 6-1 win. Looking for the fifth point to clinch the match, Sophomores Jacob Hamilton & Greg Schwoeppe completed their matches at the same time. Hamilton won 6-1, 6-2 at number two singles while Schwoeppe overcame a loss he suffered two weeks ago to his North Central opponent, winning 6-1, 7-5 at number five singles.

The win over North Central guarantees the Big Blue will finish in the top four of the CCIW standings for the first time since 2001. "I am very happy that our players got to experience this," said Director of Tennis Dustin Forman. "This is a special day for the Big Blue men's tennis team as we have spoken for years about trying to break into the top four of the conference. We are certainly going to be the underdog in our semifinal match but hopefully we will be able to play our best tennis. We are humbled to be in the semifinals with the big name tennis schools in our conference. We are going to give it all we got and see if we can continue this Cinderella season."

First serve for Millikin's semifinal match against Augustana College will be at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 5.

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Players Mentioned

Emerick Fulton: Senior

Jacob Hamilton: Sophomore

Dane Pierantoni: Junior

Connor Sacks: Junior

Greg Schwoeppe: Sophomore

Jacob Palley: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Emerick Fulton
: Senior

Jacob Hamilton
: Sophomore

Dane Pierantoni
: Junior

Connor Sacks
: Junior

Greg Schwoeppe
: Sophomore

Jacob Palley
: Freshman