By Zach DeMarcus
May 15, 2018
 
(MOBILE, Ala.) #15 Westmont Men's Tennis (8-10) dropped their First Round match of the NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship this afternoon to Union (Ky.) (14-5). The Warriors were without their number one singles player Luke Whalen -- he was unable to make the trip due to sickness.
 
Westmont head coach Mark Basham said, "There were no excuses. The guys still believed and they realized that Luke was too sick to make it. Obviously, we would have loved to have our All-American from last year and co-captain here but it wasn't meant to be."
 
The Warriors didn't let not having their co-captain in Whalen keep them from coming out strong in doubles. At ones, Christian Mathis and Miles Hale eased past Union's Srban Pejic and Borna Bartolovic 8-1. John T. Joens, who usually plays with Whalen, was partnered with Austin Lee at twos. They fell to Lois Castellon and Mark Khunel 5-8.
 
Basham said, "We played pretty solid at two for a team that hasn't played that much together with J.T. and Austin."
 
At threes, Jordan Strandness and Corey Stephens sealed the early 2-1 advantage for the Warriors as they won 8-5 over Union's Santiago Diaz Lopez and Ewan McKinnie.
 
Basham added, "I'm really happy with the fact that we got up 2-1 after doubles – that was a real positive. We played really well at one and played good tennis at three as well."
 
With Whalen out of the lineup, all the players were playing one position higher than they had all season. This left winning the final three points seem like a tall task. Basham said, "I didn't hear our guys dwelling on that at all before the match."
 
At the six position, Lee fell to Union's Khunel 3-6, 4-6. Basham added, "I thought we could have done it at six. I think that guy was wilting in the second. He was a big tall guy. Both he and Austin were shot makers and going for it."
 
Mathis was defeated by Castellon 5-7, 3-6 at ones – this gave Union the 3-2 advantage. Joens knotted up the match at three apiece as he took down Pejic 7-6, 6-3.
 
The Warriors regained the lead after three sets at the five position where Stephens came back from being down a set to winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 over Lopez. The Warriors needed to win at either the three or the four position to secure the overall victory.
 
Both Hale and Strandness had dropped their first set. Hale was the first to fall as he was taken down by Bartolovic 3-6, 4-6. Strandness fought hard to the end, but ultimately was edged by Mateo Gonzalez 3-6, 6-7.
 
Basham said, "Union was very good at the four position. I thought Jordan fought hard against a very good player.
 
"We got up 4-3 in the match and needed to win at three or four. We were down a set in both and close in the second set. We still needed to get in the third to have a crack. I thought the guys played really well. I think this Union team was every bit as strong as us today – given our lineup," noted Basham.
 
"This is our ninth year in a row making it to nationals. It's a good experience. It's a real bummer to lose, but overall it was a really good team match," added Basham.
 
The Warriors finish the season with an 8-10 overall record. "Miles had a hurt shoulder at the beginning of the year and Luke had some wrist issues. I think it was great getting here and our guys did all that they could to salvage the season," finished Basham.