May 6, 2010

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . Luther College won its fourth consecutive Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) men’s tennis title with a 5-2 win over Coe College in the Championship match at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex in Iowa City Thursday. It is the Conference-record 30th league title for the Norse in men’s tennis.

Luther, the Tournament’s top seed, improved to 33-8 overall with the Championship win over Coe and a 5-1 semifinal win over Wartburg. It is the eighth time in nine years that Coe and Luther had matched up in the Championship final. Entering singles with a 2-1 lead, the Norse picked up wins at No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 singles to secure the victory. Aaron Gendron provided the match-ending point with a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 6. Second-seeded Coe fell to 16-8.

With the win, Luther earns the Iowa Conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament which begins May 13 at eight regional sites nationwide.

No. 4-seed Wartburg College defeated No. 6-seed Central College, 5-1, for third place in a rematch of last year's third-place match won by Central. No. 5 seed Dubuque edged No. 3 Cornell, 5-4, for fifth place. Wartburg defeated Dubuque, 5-0, and Central upset Cornell, 5-4, in first-round matches.

The complete match-by-match results from the Iowa Conference Men’s Tennis Team Tournament can be found here.

The IIAC Men’s Tennis Championship continues Friday and Saturday (May 7-8) with the Flighted Individual Tournament. Singles play begins at 8:30 a.m. at Coe College (Flight A and top half of Flight B) and Cornell College (Bottom half of flight B and all of Flight C). Brackets for the three singles flights and two doubles flights can be found here.

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