April 11, 2015 – The Cougars hosted two Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opponents in men's tennis today, a warm spring day in River Forest. The first opponent was Edgewood College, which resulted in a 9-0 loss. The Cougars faced Marian University in the afternoon and got their first victory of the season 7-2.

CUC interim coach Alex Brym said, "The first game of the day was tough, and we used that as motivation for the second match versus Marian. Our first win of the season was good as we have been emphasizing team chemistry in our doubles matches, and it showed. We have also been emphasized being aggressive at the net, and it was great to see it pay off for the team today."

In the morning match versus Edgewood, the Cougars lost 9-0 in brisk fashion. However, the Cougars took control early in the afternoon match. In doubles play, the Cougars swept with the first doubles team of  Clinton Bienz (Fort Wayne, IN/Concordia Lutheran) and Patrick McIntosh (Tulsa, OK/Tulsa Memorial) winning 8-4. The second doubles team of Ariel Manjarrez (Berwyn, IL/Morton West) and Alex Vieaux (Park Forest, IL/Illinois Lutheran) also won 8-4 while the third doubles team of Andrew Menke (Pflugerville, TX/H.S.) and Niko Vercelletto (Babylon, NY/West Babylon) won 8-3 to give CUC a 3-0 lead.

In the singles matches, CUC took the top three flights behind Bienz at first (6-1, 6-4), Manjarrez at second (6-2, 6-2), and Vieaux at third (6-1, 6-0). Vercelletto had a tough day in dropping a three-set match 6-4, 1-6, 0-6.

Again, Menke had the match of the day at the number six singles. He battled through three sets to a 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 win. It was his first collegiate career victory where he showed tremendous improvement and his trademark perseverance.

Concordia returns to the court next Friday, April 17. hosting Dominican University in continued NACC action. They travel to Aurora University on Saturday to complete their weekend matches.