Storm men split spring opener at Luther

DECORAH, Iowa - The Simpson College men's tennis team rebounded from a loss to Luther to defeat Monmouth (Ill.) in the team's first matches of the Spring season.

Simpson (1-1, 0-1 A-R-C) won four of five singles matches against the Scots (0-3), shaking off a morning loss to the Norse (4-2, 1-0 A-R-C).

Drake Downard and Grant Love played at the No. 2 and No. 3 singles spots against Monmouth, with both winning in straight sets without dropping a single game.

Javier Robles Solis, an all-conference pick a year ago as a freshman, only surrendered one game total en route to a straight set victory. Freshman Gavin Pate also picked up a straight-set win at the No. 5 spot.

In doubles, the Storm won both contested matches, with Robles Solis and Love winning 8-1 at the No. 1 position. Downard and Pate combined for an 8-3 win at the No. 2 spot.

The Storm have two weeks off before taking on Cornell College and St. Ambrose in Mount Vernon on Feb. 24.

Simpson 6, Monmouth (Ill.) 1

Doubles
1. Javier Robles Solis/Grant Love (SIMM) def. Sawyer Day/Spencer Corn (MC) 8-1
2. Drake Downard/Gavin Pate (SIMM) def. Andrew Nickols/Macaden Sepich (MC) 8-4

Singles
1. Javier Robles Solis (SIMM) def. Sawyer Day (MC) 6-1, 6-0
2. Drake Downard (SIMM) def. Spencer Corn (MC) 6-0, 6-0
3. Grant Love (SIMM) def. Andrew Nickols (MC) 6-0, 6-0
4. Macaden Sepich (MC) def. Carter Hexamer (SIMM) 6-0, 6-0
5. Gavin Pate (SIMM) def. Nehemiah Declaw (MC) 6-3, 7-5

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,3,4,1,5)

Luther 9, Simpson 0

Doubles
1. Gennaro Dimuro/Ramon Wenker (LUTM) def. Grant Love/Javier Robles Solis (SIMM) 8-1
2. Jake Althaus/Aidan Hunter (LUTM) def. Drake Downard/Carter Hexamer (SIMM) 8-0
3. Peter Heryla/Dylan Wiemers (LUTM) def. No player/No player (SIMM), by forfeit

Singles
1. Gennaro Dimuro (LUTM) def. Javier Robles Solis (SIMM) 6-4, 7-5
2. Dylan Wiemers (LUTM) def. Drake Downard (SIMM) 7-5, 6-1
3. Rhys Biro-Moore (LUTM) def. Grant Love (SIMM) 6-1, 6-0
4. Aidan Hunter (LUTM) def. Carter Hexamer (SIMM) 6-0, 6-0
5. Peter Heryla (LUTM) def. Gavin Pate (SIMM) 6-0, 6-0
6. Jake Althaus (LUTM) def. No player (SIMM), by forfeit

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,5,4,3,2,1)