The Valparaiso University men’s tennis team grinded out a 6-1 win over visiting Green Bay on Friday at Match Point Tennis Club in Griffith. The match was tightly contested as the top three singles matchups all came down to the wire.

How It Happened

• Valpo started the night with a point on the board thanks to the play of a pair of doubles tandems. Brandon Ancona and Kweisi Kenyatte were off the court first following a 6-2 win over Miles McDowall and James Ling at the No. 1 position. Chad Kissell and Brian Pecyna enjoyed success at second doubles, winning 6-3 against Dipin Wadhwa and Charlie Croxford.
• Valpo’s third doubles pair of Franklin Brozovich and Daniel Langston held a 5-4 lead when play was halted with the doubles point decided.
• Kenyatte was the first singles player to finish, making quick work of Tony Leto 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. Gabriel Carvajal also cruised to a quick win, defeating Ivan Radomirovic 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 in the second match to reach a conclusion.  
• Daniel Langston won his first set 6-2 against Lachlan Napier at fifth singles before prevailing in a tiebreaker for a 7-6(1) victory in Set 2. That clinched the team victory for Valpo.
• The remaining matches were all more competitive, featuring the top half of the team’s singles lineups. Ancona fell 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to Ling at No. 1, while Kissell was victorious in three sets at No. 2, beating Croxford 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-3.
• Pecyna’s win over Wadhwa at No. 3 came in straight sets, but both featured set tiebreakers. He pulled out the 7-6(5), 7-6(2) victory.

Inside the Match

• Kissell picked up his 67^th career singles victory, the most among active players. He is eighth in program history in career singles wins, needing two more to move into a tie for sixth.
• Ancona and Kenyatte gained their 12^th doubles win as a duo this year, improving to 12-2. Ancona now has 43 career doubles wins, while Kenyatte has 27.
• Pecyna upped his singles record to 10-3.
• Kissell and Pecyna played doubles together for the first time this season. They went 2-0 together a year ago in their only prior pairings. Kissell now has 62 career doubles wins, seventh in program history. He’ll move into a tie for sixth with Nick Vuko (1998-2002) with his next victory in doubles play.
• Friday was a rematch of the 2015 and 2016 Horizon League finals and the first matchup between the two teams since Valpo joined the Missouri Valley Conference.

Up Next

Valpo (2-0) will continue a weekend of home tennis on Sunday as Marquette comes to Northwest Indiana. That match will get underway at noon at Match Point Tennis Club in Griffith.