The Lewis-Clark State College men’s tennis team put itself in great position to head back to the NAIA National Tournament in May by defeating the University of Alberta for the second straight day, this time 5-4 on Saturday at the LCSC Indoor Tennis Center.

The two are the only men’s tennis teams in Region I and the highest ranked team at the end of the season will receive a berth to nationals. Because LCSC swept the two matches, the Warriors are likely to stay ahead of Alberta for the remainder to the season in the NAIA polls. The two teams will not meet again this season.

LCSC did lose two of the three doubles matches on Saturday, but Jonatan Berhane led the Warriors in singles play and went 2-0 on the day in singles and double action to lift the Warriors, now 8-5 overall. 

The Warrior men will now take some time off before resuming play on March 13 when it plays host to Spokane Community College at 3 p.m.

LCSC 5, ALBERTA 4

Singles – Cedric Dufour, LCSC, def. Sean Friedrich, 6-4, 6-1; Lane Richard, Alberta, def. Oliver Stone, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2; Kevin Lee, LCSC, def. Brent Dysart, 6-0, 6-2; Jonatan Berhane, LCSC, def. Paul Freund, 6-0, 6-2; Kyl Runzer, Alberta, def. Ali Faris, 6-4, 0-6, 12-10; Arslan Mermut, LCSC, def. Owen Schlosser 6-1, 6-0.

Doubles – Friedrich-Richard, Alberta, def. Dufour-Lee, 8-3; Stone-Berhane, LCSC, def. Freund-Schlosser, 8-2; Dysart-Runzer, Alberta, def. Mermut-Sebastian Kuhn, 8-4.