Sophomore Nick Zazove won his 11th straight singles match and Raquel Allen recorded her 100th victory as a collegiate head coach in the Forester men's tennis team's 5-0 triumph over Lawrence University in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Championship Tournament on Friday. Lake Forest was defeated 5-0 by Grinnell College in the final at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
Zazove and junior Matt Kacyn defeated Lawrence's top doubles team 8-4 while Forester freshman Brett O'Brien and junior Scott Drier won 8-3 at #2 and junior Joe Bove and freshman Brant Christensen prevailed 8-6 at #3.
Leading 3-0 going into singles play, Lake Forest pulled to within a point of clinching the match when Zazove finished off a 6-1, 6-4 triumph at #1. Drier then earned the fifth and final team point with a 6-4, 6-1 victory at #4. The other four Foresters took their opening sets and were ahead in the second when the contest ended.
Grinnell blanked Monmouth College 5-0 in the other semifinal and won by the same score over the Foresters. After sweeping the doubles competition, the Pioneers added victories at the bottom two spots in the lineup to clinch the title. Zazove and O'Brien won the first set at #1 and #2, respectively, and were playing in the second when the match came to an end.
After competing in the MWC Individual Tournments this weekend, Lake Forest will complete the season with an overall record of 14-8. Lawrence fell to 12-9 and Grinnell will advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament with a mark of 22-4.
The league's six positional singles brackets will be played out in Madison on Saturday. The three doubles tournaments will begin Saturday night and conclude on Sunday.