The Forester men's tennis team split a pair of Midwest Conference South Division matches in Galesburg, Illinois, on Saturday. Lake Forest fell 7-2 to Monmouth College before blanking Knox College 9-0. Forester senior Chris Paterakos recorded his 50th career singles victory.
Paterakos is just the second player in program history to win 50 singles and doubles matches, joining former doubles partner Joe Campagna, who graduated last May.
The day did not start well for the Foresters, who dropped all three doubles matches to Monmouth.
Shortly after seeing their eight-match winning streak at #2 doubles snapped, freshman Ryan Kreis and senior Jon Flaksman recorded victories in singles play. Kreis routed the Fighting Scots' top player 6-1, 6-0 while Flaksman prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at #4.
Lake Forest swept the three doubles matches against Knox. Sophomore John Adams and junior Elliot Muth registered an 8-5 victory at #1, Kreis and Flaksman won 8-2 at #2, and Paterakos teamed with junior Tommy White for an 8-3 triumph at #3.
Paterakos' 50th career singles victory, a 6-1, 6-0 decision at #5, was not the only milestone reached by a Forester during singles play. Flaksman blanked his opponent 6-0, 6-0 at #4 for his 100th career win in singles and doubles combined, tying him for third place in team history behind Campagna (128) and Paterakos (104).
Kreis won 6-3, 6-1 at #1, tying Flaksman with a team-best 12-5 singles record on the season. Adams won both sets 6-1 at #2 and Muth prevailed 6-3, 6-0 at #3. Junior Nick Cantor completed the shutout with a 6-1, 6-2 win at #6.
Lake Forest is now 10-7 overall this season and finished MWC South play with a mark of 2-2. Monmouth raised its overall record to 17-5 in its first league match of the year. Knox fell to 2-13 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
The Foresters will play at North Central College tomorrow afternoon at 3:00.
