Lake Forest in Top Half of MWC With Fifth-Place Finish at Championship
Bienia reaches finals at number five
  

Sebastian Bienia was the runner-up at number five.

The top finisher in Saturday's singles tournaments for Lake Forest was freshman Sebastian Bienia (Lemont, IL/Lemont), who reached the championship match at number five. He eliminated Alex Clark of Lawrence 6-1, 6-1 in round one and outlasted Dave Rahofy of Knox 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) in the semifinals. He fell to Beloit's Matt Schultz 6-1, 6-2 in the title match.

Sophomore Rob Burda (Meridian, ID/Meridian) and senior Andrew Schuman (San Francisco, CA/ Lawrence Academy) also won in the first round. Burda defeated Ben Hilgeman of Lawrence 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 at number three and Schuman knocked off Beloit's Sam Peake 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 at number six. Both Foresters were eliminated in the semifinals.

Lake Forest also had a pair of players win the consolation finals. Freshman Nick Sandner (Lake Bluff, IL/Lake Forest) defeated Neri Amaducci of Beloit 10-4 in the final at number two. Junior Luke Figora (Yorkville, IL/Yorkville) recorded a 10-2 victory over Phil Hoefort of Illinois College in the final at number four.

On Sunday, the number three doubles team of Schuman and sophomore Alex Pukshansky (Buffalo Grove, IL/Stevenson) defeated St. Norbert 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated.

Figora and Bienia reached the finals of the consolation bracket with a 10-4 victory over Illinois College in the semifinals at number two. The duo lost to St. Norbert in the consolation finals.

Schuman is the only senior on this year's team. Head Coach Chris Kane was 9-9 in his first year at the helm of the Forester men's tennis program.

Tournament Results