Men's tennis gets 2014 season underway

GALESBURG, Ill. – The Simpson men's tennis team started out the 2014 campaign on the road Saturday with a pair of setbacks, falling to Greenville 5-4 and North Central (Ill.) 6-3.

The Storm (0-2) and head coach TJ Cox got great efforts from their top three singles players as Zach Kusick, Peter Reitgraf and Dylan Hogan all went 2-0 on the day. Kusick and Reitgraf added a doubles win, going 3-1 overall.

Next up for the Storm is a trip to Owatonna, Minn. next Saturday, Feb. 8. There, the Storm will face Bethany Lutheran and Ripon. Simpson will then go to Minneapolis to face Bethel on Sunday at the Baseline Tennis Center.

Greenville 5, Simpson 4

The Storm got great production out of their top doubles team and top three singles players in the loss. The team of Kusick and Reitgraf got Simpson out to a good start with an 8-2 win over Jon Urban and Justin McDonald at the No. 1 doubles position. Kusick added a 6-3, 6-1 win over Urban at No. 1 singles and Reitgraf cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Ryan Haas at No. 2. Dylan Hogan picked up another singles win by topping Alex Dowley 6-4, 6-2 at the third spot.

North Central 6, Simpson 3

For the second straight match Simpson got solid efforts out of its top three singles players. Kusick beat Rustam Saini 8-5, Reitgraf outlasted Josh Rodig in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6, and Hogan took Oliver Moews in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.