Men's box scoreWomen's box scoreDecatur, Ill. – The Prairie Fire tennis teams ended regular season play with a split at Millikin University.
The Knox men's squad defeated the Big Blue 5-4 while Millikin downed the Knox women's team 7-0 on Saturday at the Fairview Park Tennis Center.
The Prairie Fire men won the #1, #3, and #4 singles matches behind junior
Walter Palmer (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) senior
Jonathan Ng (Hong Kong, China, Hong Kong International School), and sophomore
Pragyaditya Mukerjee (Kolkata, India, The Cambridge School). Palmer teamed up with junior
Karl Ruzgas (Downers Grove, IL, Downers Grove North) for an 8-2 #1 doubles victory while Ng and sophomore
Dustin Loch (Glen Ellyn, IL, Glenbard West) prevailed in #2 doubles 8-2.
In the women's match, seniors
Dana Pierce (Barrington, IL, Barrington) and
Laura Knight (St. Louis, MO, Visitation Academy) ended their Knox careers.
Knight fell in a hard-fought #3 singles match, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 and Pierce came up short 6-2, 6-1 in #1 singles. The two were outscored in a close #1 doubles match 9-7.
The Prairie Fire women's tennis season is over while the men's team competes in the Midwest Conference Singles and Doubles Championships April 26-27. The tournaments will be played at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
