The Lake Forest College men's tennis team is competing in the Midwest Conference Individual Tournaments in Madison, Wisconsin, this weekend. Highlighting Saturday's play was a runner-up finish for Forester sophomore Ellis Lora-Arceo at #3 singles.
Lora-Arceo defeated St. Norbert College's #3 player 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and his counterpart from Carroll University 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals to advance to the championship match. He was then defeated 7-5, 6-0 by Grinnell.
Each of the other five Foresters competing in singles advanced to the semifinal round before being eliminated. Freshman Dan Pivonka defeated the #1 player from Ripon College 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals before falling 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to the eventual runner-up from Grinnell in the next round. Junior John Snider also got past an opponent from Ripon 6-2, 6-1 at #2 before dropping a 6-4, 6-1 decision to the eventual champion from Carroll. Junior Mike Riley won 6-4, 6-3 against Lawrence but was defeated 6-4, 6-2 by Monmouth at #4. Nick Rehm also came out on top against a player from Lawrence but needed three sets to finish off the 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory. Grinnell's #5 player defeated him 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals. Sophomore Dragan Trivanovic did not drop a game in his quarterfinal match against Knox College's #6 player but was defeated 6-4 in both sets against Monmouth in the semifinals.
Pivonka's quarterfinal victory was his team-best 19th singles win of the year, tying him for third in program history. He also tied the team record with 18 victories at #1 singles. Snider was second on the squad with 18 singles wins, tying him for seventh in team annals. He now has 51 career singles victories, matching the eighth-highest total in school history.
The three doubles brackets will be played out on Sunday.
