EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana men's tennis team captured its first conference win of the season over the weekend out of a two-game stretch with a 5-4 win over the University of Illinois-Springfield and a 3-6 loss to Lindenwood University.
 
USI vs. UIS
 
The Screaming Eagles (5-10, 1-0 GLVC) notched their first win in eight games over the Prairie Stars starting in the doubles competition with freshman Alexander Lawrenz (Hamburg, Germany) and junior Ilia Karelin (Ekaterinburg, Russia) winning at the number two spot 8-6. Freshman Martim Café (Dubai, United Arab Emerites) and junior Andrew Dones (Georgetown, Indiana) followed up with an 8-3 victory over their opponent as well at the number three position.
 
In the singles competition, Lawrenz kicked things off with a 6-3, 6-4 win at the number one position. Senior Samuel Kiladejo (London, United Kingdom) pushed USI to four wins at the number two position winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Illinois-Springfield took the next two points before a key, match-clinching 6-0, 6-2 final decision came with freshman Spencer Blandford (Louisville, Kentucky) to nab USI its first conference win of the season.
 
USI vs. LU
 
The Eagles then took a trip to St. Charles, Missouri for a match with Lindenwood. Two of the three USI points came in the doubles competition first with Lawrenz and Karelin who won 8-3, while Blandford and Café came in just behind with a 8-4 victory of their own.
 
The lone USI win in the singles competition came at the number four spot with Karelin who took the win over his opponent 7-6, 6-1.
 
USI will be back on the road for their next match on Wednesday, March 28 at 1 p.m. for a match with the Tritons of University of Missouri-St Louis.