NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Carthage men's tennis team competed in the CCIW Tournament on Saturday and Sunday. The Firebirds came away with a phenomenal weekend, winning a majority of the flights and posting great results across the board.

 
 
In Singles Flight 1, Francisco Silveira began his day with a win over Illinois Wesleyan's Ian Turnbill, defeating him 6-2, 6-3. In the semifinals, Silveira faced off against Matt Sengphomachanh of North Central (Ill.). After taking the first set 6-2, Silveira dominated the second set 6-1 to advance to the championship match. The championship match would put Silveira up against Ramon Vilarroig of North Central, who would go on to take the championship after winning 6-3, 6-4.

Miles Krzewinski also competed in Flight 1 for the Firebirds. After falling in two sets in his opening match, Krzewinski bounced back and dominated the rest of the day. He defeated Millikin's Theo Wolf with a pair of 6-2 victories, before defeating Adrian Gomez of Carroll (Wis.) in an exciting fifth-place matchup. Gomez took the first set 6-4, before Krzewinski rallied back to win 6-3 in the second set and 10-8 in the third set to claim the match.

Flight 2 featured Ellios Briand and Cooper Ferruzzi. Briand dominated in his opening match, defeating Augustana's Gabriel Luna in two sets, winning 6-0, 6-4. He was then matched up against Carroll's Daniel Ezcurra. It was a hard fought match that found Briand on the winning end of two 6-4 sets, advancing him to the finals. Briand met Millikin's Cole Phillips in the finals, and swiftly defeated him in two sets by a score of 6-2, 6-3.

Ferruzzi fell in his opening match to Augustana's David Larraga, before going on to defeat North Central's Rafael Lessa in two sets, winning 6-3, 6-4. It was a special moment for Ferruzzi, as he earned his 100th career win at Carthage. Ferruzi would go on to lose the fifth-place match to North Central's Justin Penados.

Luca Okino and Victor Pimenta represented Carthage in Flight 3, and the two represented in the best way possible. Okino would open with a two set win over Augustana's Tim Philip, and follow up the win with another victory over North Central's Henry Ros which finished in a pair of 6-2 wins to advance Okino to the finals. Pimenta opened with a dominant 6-3, 6-0 win over Millikin's Matthew Kordesh, then cruised into the finals with another dominant win over North Central's Daniel Estanislao. Pimenta and Okino met each other in the finals for a Carthage vs Carthage match. Okino took the first set 6-3. Pimenta dominated set 2 with a 6-2 victory, and then took the win in set three with a 10-2 final.

Flight 4 featured Carthage's Diego Silva and Cyriac Cayuela. Silva cruised past Illinois Wesleyan's Thad Dillow with dominant 6-0, 6-1 victories. He then used a pair of 6-2 victories to defeat North Central's Wyatt Crowell. Silva then faced North Central's Guillermo Gonzalez in the championship match. Silva won 6-4, 6-3 to claim the championship in the flight.

Cayuela defeated Carroll's David Eman with a 6-4, 6-2 score to advance to the semifinals. He then fell in three sets to North Central's Gonzalez, and lost the third-place match in two sets to North Central's Crowell.

Miles Whelan and Marco Crosynka competed for the Firebirds in Flight 5. Whelan defeated Arthur Mendez of Augustana to advance to the semifinals, where he faced North Central's Ned Curley. Whelan dropped set one 6-2, before bouncing back and winning set two 6-3. He then defeated Curley 10-6 in the third set to advance to the finals. Czosynka advanced to the second round by default after a withdrawal, where he matched up against North Central's Matt Crossland. Czosynka cruised to victory, defeating Crossland 6-1, 6-2. He would advance to the finals where he would play against Whelan for the championship. Whelan would take set one on a 7-6 (5) tie breaker. Czosynka claimed set two 6-2 to force a third set. The two Firebirds battled the whole way, with Czosynka coming away victorious after a 13-11 final.

Flight 6 was the final flight to feature Firebirds in the singles tournament, and once again the two Firebirds would meet each other in the finals. Hayden Friese cruised past Illinois Wesleyan's Griffin Hammond with a pair of 6-1 victories. He then used three sets to defeat North Central's Dieter Gonzales and advance to the finals. Jaworski used a pair of 6-1 victories to defeat Carroll's Layton Carls in the opening round. He then beat North Central's Daniel Urraca 6-3, 6-4 to meet Friese in the final match. Friese took set one with a 6-2 victory. Jaworski then defeated Friese 6-4 in set two and followed it up with a 10-8 win in set three to claim the title.

In Doubles Flight 1, Silva and Silveira partnered up to defeat Illinois Wesleyan 8-5 in round one, while Krzewinski and Briand teamed up to defeat Millikin 8-4. In the semifinals, Silva and Silveira used an 8-3 victory to roll past North Central's no. 1 squad and into the finals. Krzewinski and Briand battled North Central's no. 2 duo and came away with a 8-5 victory to advance to the finals. Krzewinski and Briand went on to defeat their teammates 8-4 and claim the championship.
Czosynka and Jaworski teamed up in Flight 2, as well as Ferruzzi and Okino. Czosynka and Jaworski dropped their opener to Augustana 8-4, while Ferruzzi and Okino shut out Carroll with an 8-0 win in the opening round. An 8-5 victory over Augustana's no. 3 squad would send Ferruzzi and Okino into the finals, where they would fall to North Central 8-6. Czosynka and Jaworski went on to the fifth place match by default, where they fell to another North Central duo 8-6.

Pimenta and Cayuela started off Flight 3 with an 8-3 win over Illinois Wesleyan to advance to the second round. Whelan and Friese would also advance to the second round with an 8-5 win over Carroll. Pimenta and Cayuela advanced to the finals with an 8-1 win over Augustana to advance to the finals. Whelan and Friese fell to North Central 8-2, but would claim third place with a 8-3 win over Augustana. Pimenta and Cayuela went on to win the flight with an 8-5 win over North Central.


 
The Firebirds return to action on Sunday, Sept. 17 as they host the Firebird Challenge at the Smeds Tennis Center. Action is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.