May 9, 2010

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) crowned champions in five individual flights (three singles and two doubles) on Saturday at the Conference Men’s Tennis Flighted Individual Tournament. The Conference also announced the 2010 IIAC All-Conference Men’s Tennis Team. The Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year will be announced next week.

In Flight A singles, No. 6-seed Greg Janssen of Coe topped No.2-seed Nick Garcia of Dubuque to become Coe's second Flight A singles champion in three years. Janssen took the first set 6-3 before Garcia retired from the match due to illness. Janssen advance to the final after receiving a walkover from defending Flight A singles champion Scott Sundstrom of Luther, who pulled out of the tournament due to injury. Garcia defeated Coe's Elliot Rausa 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Rausa took third place over Sundstrom in a walkover.

In Flight B singles, No. 4-seeded Demetrius Johnson of Dubuque defeated No. 5-seed John Mineck of Cornell 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (8) to become the Spartans' second Flight B singles champion in three years. Both Johnson and Mineck defeated teammates in the semifinals to advance the finals. Johnson topped unseeded David Jacobsen 6-2, 6-2 and Mineck outlasted No. 2-seed Justin Bradfield 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (7). Jacobsen defeated Bradfield, 8-5, for third place.

Flight C singles saw unseeded Pat Daly of Central defeat No. 4-seed Justin Steines of Loras 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Steines topped unseeded Chris Matteson of Dubuque 6-4, 6-1 and Daly beat Buena Vista's Keifer Nevius 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the semifinals. Nevius defeated Matteson 9-8 (5) for third place.

In Flight A doubles, Wartburg's Mitch Eslick/Tom Koenen defeated Coe's Elliot Rausa/Greg Janssen 8-5 in the Championship match, becoming the first Wartburg doubles tandem since Matt Harms and Kirk Kinnear in 1978 to capture the league's top doubles title. Eslick/Koenen edged Luther's Mark Mateski/Harrison Whiteley 9-8 (5) in the one semifinal, while Rausa/Janssen topped second-seeded Utsab Rijal/Scott Martin 8-1 in the other.

In Flight B doubles, top-seeded Jared Levy/Erik Becker defeated Cornell's Neal Klauer/Kris Andresen 8-4 in the final. In the semifinals, Levy/Becker topped Cornell's John Mineck/Tyler Shonkwiler 8-2 in one semifinals, while Klauer/Andresen beat Loras' Joe Holguin/John Blesz 8-4 in the other semifinal.

Complete results from the two-day Individual Flighted Tournament can be found here.

All-Conference: The quarterfinalists in Flight A singles and the semifinalists in Flight A doubles are recognized as All-Conference. The 2010 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis All-Conference Team is here.

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