SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana College men's tennis finishes their regular season with a home match against Bethany Lutheran on Friday, April 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the Huether Tennis Centre on the campus of Augustana College. The Vikings enter their season finale with a 7-8 record while the Vikings of Bethany Lutheran come into the match with a 6-9 mark. The NSIC does not sponsor men's tennis so this is a nonconference match.

Scouting the competition
Bethany Lutheran College enters the weekend with a 6-9 record, but will face Martin Luther on Wednesday, April 15 before the Vikings host Bethany Lutheran on Friday. The Vikings of Bethany Lutheran were last in action hosting St. Scholastica, losing a shutout match by a score of 9-0. Bethany Lutheran last won when they traveled to St. Paul, Minn. to matched-up against with Northwestern winning a close match, 5-4. This will be the first match between both schools.

Vikings come up short this past Saturday
Augustana squared off against St. Cloud State and Hastings College at home this past Saturday, coming up short in both matches. Augustana only took one match against St. Cloud State coming in singles competition. Zach Adkins moved up one spot, taking the No. 2 sinlges match against Joao Poli due to his opponent's injury in the second-set. The Huskies would finish strong taking the rest match winning by a score of 8-1. That evening, the Vikings matched up against Hasting College losing a close battle, 5-4. Adkins and Jackson Buchanan took the only doubles match over Matt Case and Razvan Dobrin by an 8-3 score. Jared Hofer and Collin Noldner scored a major victory that started the Vikings in the singles competition and regain the lead, 3-2. Buchanan was the last Augustana player to take a singles match with Augustana coming up short in a close 5-4 loss to the Broncos.

Adkins holds strong in singles play
Zach Adkins leads singles competition at the No. 3 spot with an 11-4 overall record. The freshman from Maple Grove, Minn. opened the spring trip against 13th-ranked Babson College with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Victor Vu. The Vikings then matched up against Division I Colgate University with Adkins taking control of the No. 3 singles match with a three-set victory against Nick Laub. Augustana then closed out their Puerto Rico trip with a shutout victory against UMass. No. 3 Adkins win in straight-sets against Jack Wang with a score of 6-0, 6-0. Adkins took the No. 3 singles spot powering past Morningside's Hunter Renn with a dominate 6-1, 6-0 victory. Adkins started this past weekend off with a 7-6 victory in the first-set then took the No. 2 singles match with his opponent of St. Cloud State getting injured and not being able to finish. In the match against Hastings, Adkins dropped a close three-set match to Mark Gueswell by the scores of 2-6, 6-4, 5-10.

Leading the charge
Head coach Marc Kurtz is in his 11th season at the helm of the Augustana men's tennis program. Under Kurtz, the Vikings have a 45-98 record since 2005. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference does not sponsor men's tennis. The Vikings' winning percentage of .467 of this season has been the highest of his tenure. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference does not sponsor men's tennis.