Principia Keeps Streak Alive with 6th Consecutive Title

Principia College kept their streak alive by winning their 6th consecutive St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's tennis title. That mark is tied for the second longest streak in conference history and trails only the nine straight won by the program from 1991-1999. Although Principia won the match 5-1 it was not without a challenge from their opponent, Greenville University.

Playing doubles first the two teams took the court on a partly cloudy, windy day that followed a morning of rain. Principia's top doubles team of Wyatt Dale and Greg Sovie cruised to an 8-3 win to give their team an early point. However, it was the final two doubles matches that captured the crowd's attention.

Greenville held leads in both the #2 and #3 doubles matches. The #2 team of Tyler Blume and Justin Tilford jumped out to a 3-2 lead in their match against Principia's Daniel Gomez and Jules Kitchingman. The two teams carried on throughout the match back-and-forth with Greenville holding a 7-6 lead and chance to take the match. However, Principia forced the match into a tiebreaker, where Gomez and Kitchingman would eventually win on a Gomez shot that sliced through the middle of the court, giving Principia two points.

While Greenville missed their chance at a point in #2 doubles, their duo of Austin Burkhart and Mathew Rodriguez picked up a point at #3 doubles. The mobile duo easily swapped between positions on the court, jumping out to a 4-1 lead before Principia's team of Brody Swan and Dan Wagstaff closed the score to even at 6-6. But big serves from Rodriguez kept Greenville on top with Rodriguez securing the win on a smash from six feet in front of the net. The win at #3 doubles by Greenville marked the first time Principia had dropped a game against a conference opponent this season. 

The team scores were at 2-1 in favor of Principia as they headed into singles play where Gomez and Kitchingman continued their momentum from their come from behind doubles win. Gomez rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win at #1 singles to bring Principia to within two wins of the title. Kitchingman brought the team even closer, winning 6-0, 6-0 at #4 singles. 

Just one point away from a 17th SLIAC title in program history all eyes turned to the middle courts where Wyatt Dale and Greg Sovie held leads in their matches. Sovie relied on his backhand to take a strong lead while Dale kept his game changing, moving from power baseline shots to charging the net. In the end, it would be Dale that clinched the win for Principia, winning 6-3, 6-1 at #2 singles. 

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