Cedar Rapids, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's tennis team split a pair of duals Saturday at the Clark Racquet Center.  The Eagles fell 9-0 to 36th-ranked Coe College (Iowa) before coming back to earn a 9-0 win over the University of Dubuque (Iowa).  UWL is now 1-2 on the season.

UWL came into the matches on Saturday missing some players due to injury, and were unable to keep up with the nationally-ranked Kohawks.  Joey Schneider and Matt Lindsay played evenly at #2 doubles early in the match, but a break of serve at 4-4 turned the match in Coe's (Iowa) favor.  In singles, the Eagles played well in stretches, but were unable to sustain momentum.  Sam Gowan, in his first singles action this year,  played a close second set, leading 5-4 before dropping the last three games. 

"It was obviously an up and down day", said UWL Head Coach Bill Hehli.  "Coe is one of the strongest teams we will play this year, and they took it to us.  I thought we fought hard, and we also learned what we need to do to compete with teams at that level."

The Eagles came back in the afternoon with a sweep of Dubuque (Iowa).  No UWL player dropped more than three games in any set, highlighted by a double-bagel victory from Joey Shubert at #6 singles, who was playing in his first singles match of the year. 

"We rebounded well in the afternoon", added Hehli.  "This was their first back-to-back matches of the year, and sometimes focus can be an issue in those situations.  I thought Simon Brandt played a smart and efficient singles match after having to wait a couple of hours after his first match."

UWL returns to action Friday, February 12 versus St. Olaf College (Minn.).  The match will be held at the West Hills Tennis Center in Owatonna, Minnesota at 6:30 p.m.

Coe College (Iowa) 9, UW-La Crosse 0
Singles competition
1. #15 Brady Anderson (COEM) def. Tony Mirasola (UWL) 6-1, 6-2
2. Alex Bernt (COEM) def. Kyle Wogahn (UWL) 6-2, 6-2
3. Ryan Hickman (COEM) def. Simon Brandt (UWL) 6-1, 6-0
4. Evengy Pakhomenko (COEM) def. Joey Schneider (UWL) 6-4, 6-2
5. Zack Decker (COEM) def. Matt Lindsay (UWL) 6-2, 6-2
6. Josh Pudlo (COEM) def. Sam Gowan (UWL) 6-1, 7-5

Doubles competition
1. Ryan Hickman/Riley Galbraith (COEM) def. Tony Mirasola/Kyle Wogahn (UWL) 8-3
2. Brady Anderson/Josh Pudlo (COEM) def. Joey Schneider/Matt Lindsay (UWL) 8-4
3. Alex Bernt/Nate Ackert (COEM) def. Simon Brandt/Joey Shubert (UWL) 8-3

UW-La Crosse 9, University of Dubuque (Iowa) 0
Singles competition
1. Tony Mirasola (UWL) def. Matthew Sablay (DUBUQUE) 6-3, 6-1
2. Kyle Wogahn (UWL) def. Justin Castro (DUBUQUE) 6-2, 6-3
3. Simon Brandt (UWL) def. Ranfer Hernandez (DUBUQUE) 6-2, 6-0
4. Joey Schneider (UWL) def. Jordan Hamling (DUBUQUE) 6-0, 6-1
5. Matt Lindsay (UWL) def. Zebulon HIll (DUBUQUE) 6-1, 6-0
6. Joey Shubert (UWL) def. Nicolas Blanco (DUBUQUE) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Tony Mirasola/Kyle Wogahn (UWL) def. Justin Castro/Ranfer Hernandez (DUBUQUE) 8-3
2. Joey Schneider/Matt Lindsay (UWL) def. Matthew Sablay/Jordan Hamling (DUBUQUE) 8-1
3. Sam Gowan/Dylan Mannetter (UWL) def. Zebulon HIll/Nicolas Blanco (DUBUQUE) 8-0