Home defeat for Dutch men’s tennis squad
Central College
PELLA — Ratcheting the competition level up, the Central College men’s tennis team dropped its first home match this spring Saturday against Purdue University-Northwest (Ind.) 6-3.
The loss sent the Dutch to 3-9 overall record this season while the Pride improved to 7-1.
An NAIA program, the Pride have a talented roster full of international talent.
“That’s by far the best team we’ve faced,” coach Ryun Ferrell said. “I don’t think we’ll face many teams as good as them the rest of the way besides maybe Coe and Luther.”
A hot start in doubles gave Central a 2-1 lead. Garret Taylor (junior, Red Oak) and Scott Wilson (junior, Urbandale) had a strong fall season but had struggled early in the spring. An 8-4 victory at No. 2 doubles got the duo off their losing snide.
“We really went after them in doubles,” Ferrell said. “Garret and Scott broke through in a big way to get their first win of the spring. Their opponents got hot towards the end of the match but we finally put them away.”
Central lost five of the six singles matches to drop the match. Wilson won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 for the lone singles win.
He ended up taking a tough 4-6, 6-3, 1-9 loss at No. 5 singles, but CJ Cliff (junior, Decorah) gave it a good run.
“That was a bit of a heartbreaker for CJ,” Ferrell said. “I think if they would have played a full third set he would have won.”
Both Central’s men’s and women’s squads are headed south for spring break March 11-18. The teams will be practicing all week at Baylor University’s Hurd Tennis Center, the school’s $6 million facility was cited as the nation’s top college venue by Tennis Magazine in 2015. The Dutch will play Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton on Monday, March 13 and Concordia Univ. (Texas) in Austin on Thursday, March 16.
“I’m looking forward to going to Waco,” Ferrell said. “The men’s coach is a friend of mine and he’s letting us use all 12 courts for practice. It should be great weather for us to practice all week and face some good competition.”
