Madison, Wisconsin — Tennis is a largely individual sport. Even at the collegiate level, a team's result can come down to just one person's match. This individuality is further emphasized at the Midwest Conference Individual Tournament, where players from all MWC schools compete in their own draw based on their position in the lineup (ex. Line 1 singles draw, Line 2 singles draw, etc.). Although not competing as a whole team, the Vikings won several meaningful matches for the program.
On April 25, the 2026 Individual MWC Tournament kicked off at the Nielsen Tennis Center on the campus of UW-Madison. The two-day event hosts all seven schools in the MWC and provides both singles and doubles play. All singles lines played their quarterfinals and semi-finals matches on the first day of the tournament. Additionally, all three doubles lines played their quarterfinals matches. Across the first two rounds of singles and first round of doubles, the Vikings put up some strong results.
Most notably at Line 1 singles, first-year William Reichen won both his singles matches to reach the final of the top draw, the first time in Lawrence tennis history since the Individual MWC Tournament started in 2022. He started off the day with a straightforward 6-1, 6-0 victory over Monmouth's Matt Savage. After a short break, Reichen returned to action in the semifinals facing Grinnell's Joshua Kruger. Reichen got out to an early lead in the first set, breaking Kruger's serve to give him the early advantage. Another break later in the set led to him taking the first set 6-2. He maintained this momentum going into the second set where he took a commanding 5-0 lead. After some difficult rallies, Reichen broke Kruger's serve to win the match 6-2, 6-3, booking him a spot in tomorrow's final where he will play Lake Forest's Tim Pasea.
"[The] singles matches were fun," Reichen said. "I was happy with the way I played and I hope tomorrow I'll be able to keep a positive mindset, have some fun and play my best tennis."
Another impressive quarterfinals win came from junior Will Phillips at Line 5. After narrowly losing to the same opponent in a 3-set match last week in Lawrence's dual match with Illinois College, Phillips secured a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over Adrus Dupre. Throughout the match, Phillips battled through an injury, which forced him to retire during his semifinals match versus Grinnell College.
"It was a good redemption match after losing in a tough battle last week and battling through injury," Phillips said.
In the other remaining draws, Lawrence battled through competitive, 3-set matches. At Line 6, first-year Jonathan Myszka completed a comeback to win his quarterfinals match 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. This leaves Myszka undefeated in his singles matches versus Illinois College this year.
"It was a good statement match for me," Myszka said. "The fact that I lost the first [set] and won the second set and third set was great."
Lawrence's lines 2, 3, and 4 singles all had long, competitive matches. At Line 2, sophomore Benjamin Hoppe lost in a two and a half hour battle against Illinois College's Jeff Wernsing. After losing a close first set, Hoppe saved three match points late in the second set to force a tiebreak. He continued to dominate in the tiebreak to force a third set. The third set started off close, but ultimately Hoppe came up short, finishing with a final score of 4-6, 7-6 (3), 2-6.
At Line 3, junior Gabriel Garcia jumped out to an early lead by winning the first set 6-2. He proceeded to go up 5-4 in the second set over Cornell College's Zach Ong, however, Ong managed to comeback to take the second set. Ultimately, the match concluded with a scoreline of 6-2, 5-7, 0-6.
"I entered the court with the idea that I would play at my best level," Garcia said. "And I did that. I did everything really, really well. I just couldn't close it, but I played really well."
Finally, junior Owen Horton fought through a difficult 3-set match at Line 4. Horton got up to a 5-2 lead in the first set against Cornell College. However, his opponent forced him to a tiebreak which went Cornell's way. Horton bounced back in the second set, winning it 6-3 before falling in the final set and ending with a score of 6-7 (5), 6-3, 2-6.
"I'm really happy that I improved my performance in this match [compared to] the previous conference match against the same opponent," Horton said.
In the afternoon, the first round of doubles play kicked off. Lawrence's lines 2 and 3 doubles faced difficult opponents in Cornell College and Illinois College. At Line 1 singles, the pairing of Reichen and Hoppe pieced together a strong performance. Two early breaks of serve gave the duo a 7-2 lead in their 8-game pro set. After facing some adversity the next three games, Hoppe held serve to earn an 8-5 win over Adi Basic and Jeff Wernsing. This advances the team into the semifinals of the Line 1 doubles draw, the first time since 2022.
After a strong start to the tournament, the Vikings will look to win more matches tomorrow in both the main and consolation draws of the MWC Individual Tournament.
