KOHLER, Wis. – Quentin Barthe (Fr.-Tabanac, France) and Paul Elzinga (Sr.-Howards Grove, Wis.) had a hand in wins as the Lakeland College men's tennis team lost to Ripon College 5-3 in a very competitive non-conference dual match Wednesday night indoors at the Sports Core.

The Muskies came up just short of their first win of the season in four matches. The dual included three matches with sets going to tiebreaker, and Lakeland lost two of the tiebreakers, a swing that turned out to be the difference between a tie and a win when the final match at No. 6 singles was not finished due to time.

Barthe and Elzina both posted wins in singles. Barthe defeated J.J. Grinde 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3 at No. 3 singles, while Elzinga swept Anders Goodwin in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) at No. 4 singles. The duo also added a win at No. 2 doubles, defeating Goodwin and Nick Julian 8-2.

Lakeland also finished with a pair of very close losses in singles and another at No. 3 doubles. Greg Boknevitz (Jr.-St. Francis, Wis.) lost a first set tiebreaker and fell to Lincoln Wurtz 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 at No. 2 singles, while Julian defeated Koki Saito (Sr.-Tokyo, Japan) 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 6-2 at No. 5 singles.

Saito and Carlos Rodriguez (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) also played at No. 3 doubles and lost to Grinde and Pheng Vang 8-6. The Muskies also had the lead in the No. 6 match, where Taylor Krocker (Fr.-Portage, Wis.) was ahead of Vang 6-1, 3-6, 3-2 when the match was ended due to time.

"Once my guys start to believe in themselves and play their game instead of their opponents we'll be just fine," said Lakeland head coach Casey Carr. "We have the talent to compete with anybody. It's the mental part that we have to hurdle. Will it happen? Yes, but it needs to be soon because the NACC season is here and gone so quickly."

Lakeland plays another non-conference opponent on Saturday when it hosts Cornell (Iowa) College at 10 a.m. at the Sports Core.

Dual Results