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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's tennis team opened its 2018 season by dropping a pair of duals at Chick Evans Fieldhouse in Dekalb, Illinois.

The No. 38 ranked Warhawks (0-2) lost 6-1 to Northern Illinois and 7-2 to Cardinal Stritch. 

Against Northern Illinois, (2-1), In doubles, junior Jimmy Engelhart (Brookfield, Wis./East) and senior Zane Navratil (Racine, Wis./The Prairie School) dropped 7-5 in the No. 1 spot to Eric Marbach and Kristopher Ortega.  Northern Illinois won the next two doubles matches as well.

After the Warhawks dropped the first five singles matches, sophomore Lucas Monterroso (Montevideo, Uruguay/Colegio Jesus Maria) claimed the only victory in No. 6 singles over Erich Schuette, winning the tiebreaker set 10-6. 

In the second match of the afternoon against Cardinal Stritch (1-1), the Warhawks dropped the No. 1 doubles match.  Navratil and Engelhart teamed up to defeat Niccollo Rossi and Simon Alig 8-2 in No. 2 doubles, then sophmore Zach Wood (Downers Grove, Ill./South) and Monterroso claimed a No. 3 doubles victory with a 7-5 tiebreaker over Nicola Wehrle and Javier Napal allowing the Warhawks to claim a 2-1 lead.

The Warhawks then dropped all six matches in singles, failing to claim a single set on their way to a defeat.

UW-Whitewater will be back in action next Saturday, February 3rd at 3 p.m. against Concordia (Wis.) at Premier Tennis and Fitness in Janesville, Wis.