The Lake Forest College men's tennis team was defeated 5-0 by Grinnell College, the 13th-ranked team in the region, Friday morning in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Championship Tournament. The Foresters will finish the season with a 13-13 overall record.
The Pioneers won all three doubles matches to start the contest, although Forester juniors Anthony Mykhaylovskyy and Derek Schaltz held their own in an 8-6 loss at #3.
Grinnell also won the first set in all six singles matches before finishing off the match with victories at #6 and then #4. The 10-time defending league champion will take on Monmouth College in the title match this afternoon.
Lake Forest was making its first trip to the four-team conference tournament in three years under head coach Michael Raymond. The Foresters have now qualified for the tourney six times in the event's 16-year history. Their last title came in 1999, the first year the champion was decided by a team tournament instead of by earning the most points in tournaments at each spot in the singles and doubles lineups.
The league's championship weekend will continue on Saturday with six positional singles tournaments and conclude on Sunday with competition at #1, #2, and #3 doubles.