Box Score

MOLINE, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's tennis team edged Carthage College 5-4 to advance to the CCIW Championship Final.

Elmhurst improved to 15-8 on the season by upending Carthage. With the victory, the Bluejays' ended Carthage's streak of eight straight CCIW Titles. Elmhurst will play in tomorrow's championship match, aiming for its first CCIW title since the 1954 season.

Carthage started play by taking two of the three doubles matches. Jeff Lotz and Daneric Hazelman edged Alex Harbert and Will Jung 9-7 at No. 1 doubles. The Red Men's Matt Whiteside and Nick Boomgarden defeated Vincent McPherson and Kevin Noble 8-4 at No. 2 doubles. The Bluejays' duo of Luke Tanaka and Justin Guenther salvaged a point for Elmhurst by edging Alex McLean and Conor Moon 9-7 at No. 3 doubles.

The Bluejays won four of the six singles contests to advance past Carthage. Lotz scored a point for the Red Men at No. 1 singles by toppling Harbert 7-6, 6-2. Jung downed Hazelman 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles before Whiteside edged defeated McPherson 6-3, 7-5 at No. 3 singles.

Elmhurst closed out the dual by winning the final three matches. Noble dispatched Boomgarden 6-4, 6-4 at No. 5 singles while Guenther defeated Brian Howes 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 singles. Tanaka earned the decisive point for the Bluejays with a thrilling three-set victory over McLean at No. 4 singles. After splitting the opening two sets, Tanaka used a 7-4 tiebreaker in the third set to score the 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 victory.

Elmhurst will face either Augustana College or Wheaton College in the championship final on Saturday (May 5). The Championship match will begin at 1:30 p.m.