ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst men's tennis team advanced to the CCIW Championship match for the third straight season by defeating Augustana College 5-2.

Seeded No. 1 in the CCIW Championships, the Bluejays had to rally from a 2-1 deficit after doubles competition to score the 5-2 victory.

Augustana (16-11) grabbed a quick two-point advantage by winning at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. The Vikings' duo of Lawrence Palmer and Andy Wall won three straight games to defeat Elmhurst's Alex Harbert and Will Jung 8-6 at No. 1 doubles. Connor Woolf and Austin Schoeck clipped the Bluejays' duo of Vincent McPherson and Quinn Jennings 8-6 at No. 3 doubles. Elmhurst scored a crucial point in doubles play when Luke Tanaka and Chris Harrison downed Colin Arnold and Kevin Bayles 8-6 at No. 2 doubles.

Elmhurst (15-4) dominated in singles play. Harrison was the first Bluejay to finish his match, disposing of Patrick Lenz 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. McPherson finished off Bayles 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles before Jung closed out Wall 6-3, 7-6 at No. 2 singles. Tanaka sealed the win for Elmhurst at No. 4 singles with a 7-6, 6-0 victory over Arnold. Tanaka trailed 5-2 in the opening set, before rallying back to win the next 11 consectuive games and advance the Bluejays into the CCIW Championship match.

The No. 1 singles match between Harbert and Palmer was not finished with Palmer lead 7-5, 5-4 at the time of Tanaka's win. Jennings and Woolf did not finish their match at No. 5 singles. Jennings won the opening set 6-2 but Woolf took the second 6-3. The third set was tied at 1-1 when the match was halted.

Elmhurst will face Wheaton College in the CCIW Championship match tomorrow (May 3) at 10:00 a.m. at the Brune Tennis Courts. The winner of the match will receive the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.