CHICAGO -- Playing its first NCAA tournament match in history, the UW-Superior men's tennis team fell, 5-0, to North Central (Ill.) in the opening round at UChicago's Stagg Tennis Courts on Thursday.
 
North Central won all three doubles matches, meaning the Cardinals needed to win just two in singles play to advance, which they did.
 
Javier Suarez and Morgan Red topped Gus Rasmussen (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) and Jace Gilbertson (Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie Senior), 8-0, at No. 3 for the lead. Then, Ramon Vilarroigand Guillermo Gonzalez defeated Andre Luiz de Melo Guedes (Brasilia, Brazil/Centro de Ensino Médio Paulo Freire), 8-3, at No. 1 before Colten Way and Andy Hinch beat Keisuke Sato (Fukushima, Japan/Fukushima) and Michael Janes (Bismarck, N.D./Legacy), 8-3, in the No. 2 position.
 
Red defeated Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-2, to give North Central a 5-0 lead.
 
Vilarroig clinched the match for the Cardinals with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Janes at No. 1.
 
North Central (25-2) advances to face Gustavus Adolphus in the second round on Friday. The Gusties earned a first-round bye.
 
The Yellowjackets' season comes to a close at 16-6 overall. The 16 victories are six more than the previous school record.
 
The match signaled the end of the careers of two seniors -- Luiz de Melo Guedes and Gergo Potz Nagy (Budapest, Hungary/Veres Pálné Secondary Grammar School). The pair was part of 26 dual-match victories in their two seasons in the program and holds no fewer than five career and single-season school records.
 
Luiz de Melo Guedes leaves with UWS records for career singles winning percentage (.839), most singles wins in a season (17, 2022) and best singles winning percentage in a season (.850, 2022). Potz Nagy holds the school marks for most career doubles wins (26) and doubles wins in a season (17, 2022).