TOPEKA, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College men's tennis team advanced to the championship match of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Tournament with a 5-0 victory over Southwestern College Friday morning at Kossover Tennis Center.
The 24th-ranked and top-seeded Bulldogs (13-3) were tested by the Moundbuilders (12-9) on the doubles courts but still managed to come through with a sweep.
Andreas Huber (Forstinning, Germany, Franz-Marc-Gymnasium) and
Jacob Turley (Milton Keynes, England, Cedars Upper School) gave McPherson their first point with an 8-2 win over Franco Poi and Aaron Hartley on court two.
Julien Bodin (Cartagena, Spain, Las Salinas) and
Daan Coppelmans (Waalre, The Netherlands, Sint-Joriscollege Eindhoven) followed with an 8-6 win over Sheldon Hawthorne and Tomas Yacuzio on court three, while
Ahmed Lahlou (Casablanca, Morocco, Groupe Scolaire Anfa) and
Hector Carrillo Perales (Barcelona, Spain, Bon Salvador) defeated Alex Bernades and Santiago Bracco by the same score on court one.
Once play moved over to singles, the Bulldogs again came out slowly as the first set in four of the six matches was either 7-5 or decided in a tiebreaker. McPherson, though, scored first-set wins in five of the six matches.
Juan Alejandro Jimenez (Pereira, Colombia, Liceo Taller San Miguel) brought McPherson within a point of victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Bracco on court five. Moments later, Carrillo closed out the match with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Bernades on court two.
The Bulldogs will now face No. 2-seeded Bethany College at 9 a.m. Saturday for the KCAC Tournament crown and the KCAC's automatic berth to the NAIA Men's Tennis Championship in Mobile, Alabama. The Swedes edged No. 3-seed Ottawa University, 5-4, in the other semifinal match.
