The Carroll University men’s tennis team lost 5–2 to Wheaton College on Apr. 14 in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) match at the Jean Kilgour-Trailblazer Tennis Complex.
The outcome is significant for Carroll as it impacts their standing within the conference, highlighting areas for improvement as they continue their season.
Carroll started strong by winning all three doubles matches, earning the doubles point and taking an early lead. The No. 1 doubles pair, Andrew LaBelle and Felix Persson, secured a 6–3 win. David Eman and Ulrik Gellein added a victory at No. 2 with a score of 6–4. The No. 3 team of Ryan LaBelle and Nate Christensen won in a tiebreak, finishing 7-6 (7-5).
In singles play, Carroll managed one win from Andrew LaBelle at the top spot after coming back from losing the first set to claim victory in three sets. However, Wheaton won all other singles matches in straight sets across positions two through six.
Despite the loss, Carroll demonstrated competitiveness during doubles play and continued to challenge their opponents throughout singles competition against what was described as a strong Wheaton lineup.
Looking ahead, Carroll will seek to improve their performance as conference play continues later this week when they travel to Rock Island for a match against Augustana scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.
