Christoph Haertel and Patrick Hammers both competed in the singles main bracket for the Leathernecks.

"Patrick Hammers played the best tennis of his career this weekend. His backhand was outstanding, his volleys were very consistent, and his court coverage was amazing. Pat's 6-2, 6-1 victory over nationally-ranked Arkansas was extremely impressive," said head coach Chris Kane.

"I thought Christoph Haertel played some excellent tennis for us. Every player he competed against this weekend was from a nationally ranked team, so there were no breathers. If Christoph could have taken the first set tie-breaker from his Tulsa singles opponent, we might well have had another victory there." added Kane.

Haertel also played alongside teammate Mitch Granger in the doubles main bracket.

"In doubles, Mitch and Christoph played against one of the top teams from nationally ranked Nebraska. They played great doubles in earning a 6-3 lead, and only the great talent of their opponents allowed an 8-6 victory for Nebraska." continued Kane.

"Overall, the ITA was a great experience for us because we are embarking on the toughest schedule that WIU men's tennis has ever played when we come back for spring." said Kane. "We open with Notre Dame, then play against Big 10 opponents in Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern. Additionally we will face five teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament last year or were nationally ranked. It's going to be a killer schedule, we know that, but we have a lot of good talent that will help us."

Western will open up spring play on January 19th as they take on the University of Notre Dame.

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