Box Score

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Grinnell College men's tennis team lost a hard-fought 5-3 decision to Kalamazoo College in a match of regionally-ranked squads Friday in the NCAA Division III Regional Championships.

Grinnell got a win at No. 2 doubles, as Colin Johnson '13 and Tracy Johnson '16 posted an 8-4 decision. Elliott Czarnecki '15 and Emilio Gomez '15 took the 13th-ranked doubles team in the region to the limit at the No. 1 spot before losing 8-6.

In singles, Grinnell got wins from Tracy Johnson at No. 5 (6-1, 7-6) and Charlie Wilhelm '15 at No. 6 (6-2, 6-4).

“While nobody likes to lose, I am incredibly pleased with the composure, determination and fight my team showed against a very solid Kalamazoo team and one of the storied programs in Division III tennis,” said Grinnell coach Andy Hamilton. “Given our less-than-pleasing results against regionally-ranked teams this year, for us to be able to go toe-to-toe with Kalamazoo and have a chance to win the match is a great example of the kind of character our players have. A lesser team wouldn't have been up for the fight.

“In the end, probably not being able to get a second doubles point was the difference in the match,” he added. “We played extremely well at No. 2 doubles as Colin and Tracy executed well, returned well and served well. I'm pleased they were able to maintain the groove that they had in the Midwest Conference. At No. 1 doubles, it was a back-and-forth match and we served to stay in the contest in a very tight situation, but in the end Kalamazoo came away with the win. That was probably our best chance to steal the second doubles point, but Kalamazoo was stronger in final few games of the match.

“In third doubles, our execution was lacking a times, even though I thought we could strike the ball a bit better than our opponents,” he continued. “I was hoping for a bit better performance there. In singles every match was a dog fight. Charlie showed great understanding how to beat his opponent and executed a fine game plan, and Tracy Johnson showed the variety in his game to win and keep us in the match. I felt Emilio and Elliott fought hard at 1 and 2 singles, but couldn't get over the top. In the end, Daniel Nellis '13 and C.J. Ray '16 were on the court. C.J. did a great job of coming back to win the second set and Daniel had a great first set and was in command in the third when the match ended. Both players showed a lot of heart and determination.”

Kalamazoo, ranked 12th regionally, moves on at 10-12 while the 16th-ranked Pioneers finish their campaign at 22-12. The win total for Grinnell is fifth-best in Pioneer history.