The 19th-ranked men's tennis team will look to keep its six-match win streak alive this weekend in its last few contests before the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship.
In their last outing, the Tigers (15-3) cruised to a 9-0 victory at Wabash College Wednesday evening. After defeating the Little Giants on all three doubles courts, the squad swept singles play in straight sets.
Junior Michael Rardon bested Wabash's Zach Lowry, 6-2, 6-2, for his 11th win of the year at the No. 1 singles position. On court two, freshman Sam Miles improved to 12-3, while sophomore Reid Garlock cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory at the No. 4 spot.
Miles said the experience of his older teammates has helped him develop confidence in his game.
"We have a lot of guys on our team that work really hard, like [senior] Hunter Schouweiler and Michael Rardon and Reid Garlock," he said. "It's good to try to model what they do."
With its last loss dating back to a 5-4 decision against 16th-ranked University of Chicago on March 22, the team is in a good position heading into the SCAC Championship. The Tigers claimed the Great Lakes College Association tournament title last weekend in Kalamazoo, Mich., putting together strong performances against top-ranked teams.
DePauw opened the tournament last Friday with a 7-0 win over Hope College. After taking down No. 25 Denison University by a score of 5-3, the Tigers claimed the tournament title with a 5-1 victory over 17th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University.
In the championship match, the squad jumped out to a 3-0 lead after sweeping doubles play. Schouweiler won at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 7-5, while sophomore Noah Swiler battled to a three-set victory on court four to seal the win for the Tigers.
"We really needed to win that tournament," Miles said. "It will help us in the rankings, and it's a big confidence-booster to know that we can battle though all weekend in matches like that."
The Tigers will play host to Vincennes University and the University of Southern Indiana on Saturday, with the matches slated for 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. From there, they will move on to the SCAC Championship beginning April 22 in North Little Rock, Ark.
Meanwhile, DePauw's women also have an important match this weekend before heading to the SCAC Championship. The 14th-ranked Tigers (9-8) will look to get back on track Saturday when they host Wheaton College at Blackstock Courts at 12 p.m.
The team is coming off a sixth-place showing at the Midwest Invitational in Madison, Wis. last weekend. DePauw suffered a 6-3 loss to No. 17 Washington University-St. Louis in its opening match of the tournament, but rebounded for a 6-3 win over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on day two.
The Tigers then dropped a tough 5-4 decision to 29th-ranked Carleton College in their third matchup. Seniors Tricia Wilks and Lizzy Whitlatch recorded a point with their win at No. 3 doubles. Classmate Janelle Arita improved to 11-5 at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 7-6 victory and Wilks also posted a three-set win on court three. Junior Katie Regan came out victorious at the No. 6 spot, but Carleton would hold on for the victory.
"Against Wash U. we came out strong in our doubles performance," Arita said. "It was very important to come out and lead in doubles early. Hopefully we'll be able to do that in this weekend's match."
Arita also said the team gained valuable experience at last weekend's tournament, something that will be helpful as it moves toward the postseason. After hosting Vincennes University this weekend, DePauw will be aiming for its fourth-straight SCAC title at the conference tournament.
"Throughout this week we've been working on becoming more of a mentally tough team," Arita said. "We've all been working really hard this week...I'm confident that we'll be able to pull through with a strong showing for conference."