March 2, 2017 - Despite the vestiges of winter still hanging around Chicagoland, the Concordia University Chicago men's tennis team began the 2017 season this afternoon. They headed indoors to the Oak Park Tennis and Fitness Centre to take on Calvin College  The Knights had an edge in experience, coming in with a 3-0 record already, and they made it four straight wins with a 9-0 blanking of the Cougars.

Calvin swept through doubles play by scores of 8-0 at all three flights. The Cougars' doubles pairings in this first match consisted of returning seniors Ariel Manjarrez and Alex Vieaux at first, Josh Krzyzanowski and Allen Price at second, and Ryan Popowcer and Rudy Croon at third.

In singles play, Manjarrez was the first to capture a point for the Cougars despite falling to his first singles opponent, Rodrigo Castellanos Vaca Guzman. Freshman Popowcer at fifth also captured points despite a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Cobe Benzel. The other assignments for CUC included Vieaux at second, Krzyzanowski at third, Price at fourth and Ben Fluga at sixth.

"We knew what we were here for today. We're here to gain experience and get better as we get ready for conference play," said first-year head coach Howard Carley. "It's a process, not something we can do overnight. But our players will learn with each match they play, and we'll show improvement as the season progresses."

The Cougars will return to the Oak Park Tennis and Fitness Centre this Saturday, March 4 as they host Lake Forest College and Principia College. Doubles play will be contested beginning at 10 a.m., while the singles action will begin at approximately 3 p.m.