Men's tennis drops matches to Wartburg, Buena Vista

INDIANOLA, Iowa - The Simpson men's tennis team lost a pair of Iowa Conference matches over the weekend, losing to Wartburg 7-2 on Saturday and Buena Vista 6-3 on Sunday.

Simpson was scheduled to play a second match Saturday, but St. Ambrose was unable to make the trip.

The Storm (7-10, 2-3) enjoyed perfect weather on Saturday morning against the Knights. Zach Kusick earned a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles and the doubles team of Alex Hook and Dylan Hogan took a 9-7 win at No. 2 doubles.

Saturday's perfect weather conditions wore off by Sunday. Thunderstorms throughout the day forced the Buena Vista match to be moved inside for a rare tennis competition in Cowles Fieldhouse.

Simpson lost four tiebreakers against the Beavers in the 6-3 loss. In singles, Kusick lost to Chris Habermann 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 at No. 1 and Mike Rundle lost to John Bieber 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 6. In doubles, Kusick and Peter Reitgraf lost 9-8 (4) to Habermann and Kyle Shade at No. 1 and Rundle and Geoff Converse lost to Bieber and Justin Buzzard 9-8 (5) at No. 3.

Hook beat Shade 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Reitgraf topped Buzzard 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3. Hook and Hogan teammed up to beat Kyle Weeden and Drake Swanson 8-3 at No. 2 doubles.

Currently sixth in the conference standings, Simpson's last two matches of the season will be crucial in its quest to make the six-team IIAC Tournament. After nearly two weeks off, Simpson goes to Pella on Saturday, April 26 to close the regular season against Luther and Central.