JACKSON, Wis. – MSOE men's tennis entered their match against Illinois Tech on Sunday looking for history. Well, the Raiders found it. It wasn't a smooth path to the win but the Red & White walked away with their first NACC tournament championship and their first trip to the NCAA tournament in over a decade.
RESULT
No. 3 MSOE RAIDERS – 5
No. 1 Illinois Tech – 3
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Third seed MSOE (14-9) jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play to set the tone for the rest of the match. The Raiders had a somewhat easy start to the day with an 8-4 win in the first slot but had to battle to get just a two point win in the second pairing of the day. They could have been up 3-0 but top seeded Illinois Tech (9-13) returned the favor and grabbed an 8-6 win of their own.
- Things didn't get easier in solo play. Jachym Smid's 6-2, 6-2 victory was the smoothest win for the Red & White but they fell in the first and fifth matchups. With things tied at 3-3, the title came down to the last three matches. It took MSOE extra points in each one, but they were able to secure the second and fourth matches to win their first NACC championship.
WHO'S ON DECK
The Raiders are headed to their first NCAA tournament since the 2010 season, and they'll begin their journey to a possible national championship next weekend. Specific dates and opponents will be known when the selection show goes live tomorrow morning at 11:30 am on NCAA.com.
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MSOERaiders.com. You can also follow the Red & White on Twitter
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