Forester sophomore Dan Pivonka and freshman Trevor Allen claimed titles at #1 and #2 singles, respectively, at the Midwest Conference Individual Tournaments in Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday. The team's four other singles players combined for a 5-4 record at the event.
Pivonka staked his claim as the best player in the league by winning the championship at the top spot in the singles lineup. He won both sets 6-3 in his quarterfinal victory over St. Norbert College's finest and came out on top of a tiebreaker in each set of his 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) semifinal triumph over the #1 player from Grinnell College. After falling 6-2 in the opening set of the championship match against Carroll University, he took the second set 7-5 and the third 6-3 to capture the title. Pivonka's 19 #1 singles victories on the season are a new program record and his current 10-match singles winning streak tied the seventh-longest streaks in team history.
Allen's first two victories in the #2 singles bracket were much more convincing. He prevailed 6-1, 6-0 against St. Norbert in the quarterfinals and 6-2, 6-3 against Cornell College in the semifinals to set up a championship match against Grinnell. Allen dropped the first set 6-3 but won the second and third by the same 6-4 score to earn All-MWC honors. Allen and Pivonka tie for the team lead in singles victories this season with 20, which ranks third in school history.
Forester senior John Snider defeated Carroll 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals at #3. He fell in the semifinals but completed the singles portion of his career ranked second in program history with 63 wins.
Junior Dragan Trivanovic and sophomore Nick Rehm matched Snider's performance at #4 and #5, respecitvely. Trivanovic prevailed 6-0, 6-2 against Lawrence and Rehm 6-2, 6-1 over Carroll in their quarterfinals contests. Both players were defeated by their counterparts from Monmouth College in the semifinals.
Freshman Joe Bove was knocked off in the quarterfinals at #6 but posted 8-1 and 8-2 victories to win the consolation bracket.
Grinnell, the 2016 league champion, claimed the title at each of the bottom four positions.
First round play in the three doubles tournament began Saturday night and will continue on Sunday. Pivonka and Snider will compete at #1, Allen and Rehm at #2, and Trivanovic and senior Jordan Stoler at #3.
