#37 Lewis (19-4): 5
#32 Southern Indiana (20-3): 4
Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—The No. 32 University of Southern Indiana men's tennis team saw a 2-1 lead fall by the wayside as it fell to No. 37 Lewis University in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Friday evening.
USI (20-3), which saw its 10-match winning streak come to an end Friday night, took a 2-1 advantage after posting wins at number two and three doubles. Senior
Diego Gimenez and junior
Juan Quiroz paired for the Screaming Eagles' victory at two doubles, while juniors
Ben Boesing and
Rodrigo Flores teamed up for USI's win at three doubles.
Lewis (19-4), which lost, 5-4, to the Eagles two weeks ago, stormed back to take three of five singles matches to tie the contest at 4-4 with one match to play.
After taking a one-set advantage at number three singles, Boesing saw Lewis's Armand Levandi, the No. 20-ranked player in the Midwest Region, rally for a three-set victory in the decisive match and send the Flyers, who were the number two seed from the GLVC East Division, into Saturday's championship.
With their triumph at number two doubles, Gimenez and Quiroz broke the school's single-season record for doubles wins. The duo improved to 27-8 on the season.
Flores and freshman
Michael Kuzaj recorded wins at number six and four singles, respectively, to pace the Eagles in singles' action.
USI, the top seed from the East Division returns to action Saturday at 9 a.m.—weather permitting—when it takes on Northern Kentucky University in the GLVC Tournament third-place match. The Norse, the number three seed in the East Division, suffered a setback to GLVC West Division champion Drury University, 5-3, in the semifinals Friday evening.
Saturday's match will only be played if it is outdoors. The GLVC Championship match features Lewis and Drury at 1 p.m.
