Savage Wins at No. 1 but Scots Fall to IC

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/15/2026) — The Monmouth College men's tennis team lost on Senior Day to Illinois College 6-1 on Tuesday. The Fighting Scots (1-10, 0-4) picked up a 3-set win from sophomore Matthew Savage (Washington, Illinois) at No. 1 singles.

Savage won the first set at No. 1 singles 6-3 before falling 6-2 in the second set. He then won the 10-point tiebreaker 10-7 to win the match.

"Matt played a fantastic match at No. 1 today and showed a lot of patience building points on a windy day," said head coach Brian Dahlstrom. "He was winning to restart the point and grind it out and all the work he's been putting in on his serve and topspin backhand is paying off.

In the other singles matches, Antonio Perez (St. George, Utah) lost 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 and Macaden Sepich (Mackinaw, Illinois) had to retire due to illness at No. 3. Caden De Jong (Freeport, Illinois) lost 6-2, 6-2 at No, 4, Chase Sims (Tiskilwa, Illinois) fell 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 and Alfonso Mares (Oak Lawn, Illinois) lost 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6.

In doubles, Savage and Perez lost 6-4 at No, 1 while Sepich/De Jong and Mares/Sims both lost 6-0.

"I appreciate all our team's resiliency after some tough matches," said Dahlstrom. "We're continuing to build confidence and appreciate staying in the point to make the opponents work. At the end of the day there is progress and we'll keep battling."

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots last beat IC in 2022 ... Savage lost to the same played 6-2, 6-1 last year at No. 2 singles ... Sepich, Luke Jachimiec (Aurora, Illinois) and Braeden Brauman (Palatka, Florida) were honored pre-game in a Senior Day ceremony ... The Scots will host Ripon and Lawrence on Saturday.