Guenther Reaches No. 2 Singles Finals, Scots Win Two Consolation Finals

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/24/2022) — The Monmouth College tennis team took part in the Midwest Conference singles championships in Middleton, Wisconsin on Saturday, ending with a runner-up finish and two consolation titles.

Playing at No. 2 singles, Brendan Guenther (Pekin, Illinois) was seeded sixth. He knocked off the 3-seed from Ripon in the first round 6-1, 6-2. Then in the semifinals he got a win over the 2-seed from Lake Forest, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (6). He trailed 5-1 in the tiebreak before storming back to win seven of the next eight points and take the match. In the championship match, Guenther lost to the top seed from Grinnell College 6-3, 6-0.

At No. 1 singles, Andrew Shie (Davenport, Iowa) lost his first match 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to move into the consolation bracket. He got a bye to the finals and trailed 4-3 early in a one-set race to eight games format. Shie took five of the next six games and beat his Illinois College opponent 8-5 to capture the consolation title.

Sawyer Day (Cupertino, California) had a similar path at No. 3 singles, playing as the 4-seed. He lost in the first round 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and then got a bye to the consolation final. In the final, Day trailed 7-3 before taking four straight games to even the match at 7-7. He then won a tiebreak to beat his Illinois College opponent 8-7 (4).

Matthew Simonson (Monmouth, Illinois) was the No. 6 seed at No. 5 singles. He lost 6-3, 6-2 in the first round and then won 8-4 in the consolation semifinals. In the consolation finals against an opponent from Lawrence, Simonson went the distance but lost a tiebreaker 13-11 to lose the match 8-7 (11).

Andre Myklebust (Cambridge, Wisconsin) was the No. 7 seed at No. 4 singles playing very close to his hometown in the Madison area. Myklebust lost to Lake Forest 6-0, 6-0 in the first round and fell 8-6 to Illinois College in the consolation semifinals.

At No. 6 singles, Nicholas Robertson (Covington, Georgia) was the No. 7 seed. He fell in the first round 6-1, 6-0 to Lake Forest and then lost in the consolation semifinals 8-6 to Illinois College.

The double tournament for the MWC Championships starts at 8:15 a.m. on Sunday. Shie and Guenther are seeded fourth at No. 1 doubles with Day/Myklebust seeded seventh at No. 2 and Simonson/Robertson seeded seventh at No. 3.