EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The battle of two ranked teams bought an exciting match on Friday afternoon, with the 14th-ranked UW-Eau Claire men's tennis team narrowly falling to No. 13 UW-La Crosse, 5-4.
The Blugolds came out strong to start the match, with the number one doubles team of Kyle Hoffmann (Jr. Franklin, Wis.) and Andrew Dahl (Fr. Fort Atkinson, Wis.) defeating the veteran Eagle duo of Peter Stadum and Tony Mirasola, 8-5. After a loss in number three doubles, the number two team of Andrew Rust (Fr. Golden Valley, Minn.) and Will Weyenberg (So. Neenah, Wis.) brought some momentum back to the home squad, defeating the team of Nick Skanavis and Dante Pitera by a score of 9-7.
However, the youth of the Blugolds showed in singles play. The Eagle line up that featured mostly seniors won four of the six matches as the only Rust and Dahl recorded victories for Eau Claire. Rust, playing at number three singles, earned a big win over Mirasola in three sets, winning 6-7, 6-3, 7-5. Dahl's victory came at number six singles, and also in three sets, defeating Austin Stafanich 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
The Blugolds (16-6) will host UW-Oshkosh on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and take on UW-Whitewater at 1 p.m.
-JM-
