Despite a two-week-long break in play, the UW-Eau Claire men’s tennis team was able to continue its winning streak.
The Blugolds entered the matches with a nine-meet winning streak that dated back to Feb. 20. On Saturday, Eau Claire traveled to Rock Island, Ill., to compete in a pair of meets against Augustana College (Ill.) and Monmouth College (Ill.).
“In the beginning of the year we were trying to get everything together, and then we finally got together and had a big win over Carleton College, and lately we’ve been on a roll, and we’ve been unstoppable,” sophomore Chris Kuna said.
In the day’s first match against Augustana, the Blugolds won 7-2. Senior Phil Loprinzi, competing as the No. 1 singles, fell in three sets, while the only other loss for the Blugolds was at the No. 6 singles level, where freshman Ben Robertson fell in two sets. Kuna defeated his No. 2 singles opponent in three sets, while the rest of the Blugolds won in two sets.
Against Monmouth, the Blugolds won 9-0 with no matches lasting longer than two sets. Loprinzi, competing at the No. 3 singles level this time, and freshman Florent Marco both won their sets by a score of 6-0, 6-0.
The pair of Saturday wins increases Eau Claire’s winning streak to 11 meets and improves the overall record to 14-2 on the season.
The Blugolds are scheduled to travel to Orlando, Fla. for a six-game week over spring break.
“I’m very excited. It’s always nice to travel with the team on spring break,” Kuna said. “We’ll get a lot of time and chances to play some good teams away from this area.”
The Blugolds won’t host a meet in Eau Claire until Friday, April 9, when they host Wartburg (Iowa).
“We have some tough competition coming up towards the end,” Kuna said. “We’re all looking forward to those big matches, and that’s motivation enough.”