Junior Joe Bove was one of four Foresters without a loss on the day as the Lake Forest College men's tennis team defeated Lawrence University 7-2 and St. Norbert College by the same score on Saturday.
Bove''s 6-1, 6-3 victory at #5 singles against Lawrence was Lake Forest's final point of the match. The four players above him in the home team's lineup were also victorious in singles with sophomore Nick Zazove the first to finish. He defeated the Vikings' top player 6-2, 6-0 and junior Scott Drier followed with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph at #4. Junior Matt Kacyn's 6-3, 6-4 win at #3 clinched the match for the Foresters and freshman Brett O'Brien added a 6-0, 6-1 victory at #2.
Lake Forest had taken the early lead when O'Brien and Drier prevailed 8-2 at #2 doubles while Zazove and Kacyn doubled up their opponents 8-4 at #1.
Lawrence earned the points at #3 doubles and #6 singles.
The victory clinched a spot for the Foresters in next Friday's four-team Midwest Conference Championship Tournament.
Lake Forest began its match against St. Norbert with a sweep in doubles. The final score was 8-4 at all three positions and O'Brien and Drier were the first to finish. Zazove and Kacyn were next at #1 and freshman Brant Christensen and Louis Payne made the score 3-0 after coming out on top at #3.
Drier and Zazove dropped just one game apiece – Zazove in the first set and Drier in the second – at #4 and #1 singles, respectively. After the Green Knights claimed their first point of the contest at #6, Bove finished off a 6-1, 6-1 victory at #5 and O'Brien became the fourth Forester with a perfect day, coming out on top of a 6-1, 7-5 decision at #2. The visitors closed out the match with a win at #3.
The Foresters are now 13-7 overall this season and have secured no worse than the #2 seed in the conference tournament with a final record of 7-1 in league play. St. Norbert fell to 8-9 overall and 3-4 in the MWC.
The most likely scenario has Lake Forest taking on Lawrence again in Friday morning's MWC Tournament semifinals at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The championship match will be played that afternoon.
