Simpson splits on first day of IIAC play

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson men's tennis team opened Iowa Conference play on Saturday, April 11, beating Loras 6-3 before dropping the afternoon match to Dubuque, 7-2.

Against Loras, the Storm (4-11, 1-1 Iowa Conference) lost two of three doubles to start the day before coming back and winning five of six in singles.

Simpson emerged with wins at the final five singles spots, including third-set triumphs by Jeff Armstrong at No. 3 and Aaron Smith at No. 5. Armstrong beat Zach Atzen 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 and Smith held on to beat Jack O'Brien 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Connor Barnard handled Ulises Hernandez 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2, Geoff Converse beat Neil Kane 6-3, 7-6 (6-4) at No. 4 and Adam Weiser handled Paul Mniszewski 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5.

Barnard and Gabe Dubberke gave Simpson its only doubles win against the Duhawks, as the duo topped Mniszewski and O'Brien 8-5 at No. 3.

Sinlges play didn't treat Simpson as well against Dubuque. The Spartans won all six singles matches en-route to the 7-2 win.

The Storm got wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, with Converse and Peter Reitgraf topping Ranfer Hernandez and Jordan Hamling 8-3 at No. 2. Weiser and Zach Kusick teamed up to beat Nikolay Gospodinov and Zebulon Hill 8-5 at No. 3.

Up Next

Simpson hosts Coe on Tuesday, April 14. Start time is set for 4 p.m.