The Pratt Community College Men’s tennis team traveled to Tyler, TX to compete in a tournament from March 12 to March 15. During their time in Texas, the team competed with #15 Jacksonville College, #10 Weatherford College, #6 Collin County Community College, and #1 Tyler Junior College. The team went 4-0 in these matches and expects to be the #1 team in the nation when the next rankings are announced in April.  

The Beavers started the trip by defeating Jacksonville College 9-0. Freshman, Matthew Harris, was the standout performer for the match. Matthew only lost 1 game in 3 sets of tennis, winning his doubles match 8-1, with the aid of his partner Tiaan Clark Nelson, before winning his singles match 6-0, 6-0 against Vicente Rojas.  

The match with Weatherford College was also a strong performance from the Beaver Men. The team won the match 7-2. Freshman, Edward Westfall led the way for the team with strong wins in both singles and doubles. Edward and his partner, Daniil Blinov, defeated Benjamin Asker Ongaro and Julian Blainey 9-7 during the doubles. He followed up this performance with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Pablo Pasco.  

When the team played Collin, they finished with an 8-1 victory. Sophomore leader Thiofhi Tshivhase was the top performer for this match. He and his partner, Edward Westfall, won their match at #1 doubles 9-7 and Thio followed up this performance with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in his singles match against Niko Nadali.  

The biggest match of the trip was a showdown between the two top teams in the country. Tyler Junior College entered the match ranked #1 in the nation, while Pratt was #2. It was a slim margin of victory, with Pratt taking the match 5-4. Daniil Blinov was the only Beaver to win both their singles and doubles matches during this contest. He, and Edward Westfall, defeated Ouga Miyazaki and Ties De Regt 8-6. Daniel then defeated the #1 ranked player in the country Daniel Marincas 6-4, 2-6, 13-11 in a tough match. Sam Dinneen was the final match on court and clinched the victory for the Beavers with his 7-5, 4-6, 10-6 victory over Willem de Waal.  

This is the latest highlight in what has been an exceptional year for the Beaver Men’s tennis program so far. The team is 2-2 against Division 1 schools and 2-0 against Division 2 schools so far this year. They have wins against St. Bonaventure University and Sacred Heart University from the Division 1 tennis world. Their Division 2 wins include Newman University and the University of Nebraska-Kearney, who were ranked #18 in the March 11 ITA rankings.  

The team has one more match this coming week before beginning conference play in April. They will face three of the top 7 schools in the country during their conference schedule and are looking forward to a trip to Nationals in mid-May.