Naperville, IL - The Judson University Eagles traveled to Naperville on Friday night, for a competitive evening matchup against the North Central College Cardinals at the Naperville Tennis Club. Despite a strong start and some gritty performances in singles play, the Eagles ultimately fell to the Cardinals with a final team score of 5-2.

Judson came out firing in the doubles portion of the event, showcasing excellent chemistry to secure the early doubles point. At the #1 spot, the duo of Brayden Kopp and Florian Koppitsch set the tone with a decisive 6-3 victory. The momentum continued at #2 doubles, where Joshua Bavich and Brock Dawson mirrored that success with another 6-3 win.

While Nicolas Donoso and Cesar Otondo Villafan narrowly missed the sweep at #3 doubles—falling in a tight 7-6 (8-6) tiebreaker, the Eagles still headed into singles play with the upper hand.

The transition to singles proved challenging as North Central mounted a comeback across the board.

At the top of the lineup, Brayden Kopp fought hard but was bested 6-4, 6-4. Meanwhile, Javier Sanchez fell 6-3, 6-2 at #2 singles, and Joshua Bavich dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision at the #3 position.

The highlight of the singles round for Judson came from Nicolas Donoso at the #4 spot. After splitting sets 6-4 and 3-6, Nicolas showed incredible composure in the third-set tiebreaker, winning 10-7 to claim the point for the Eagles.

The remaining matches were battles of attrition. At #5 singles, Florian Koppitsch took his match to a third-set tiebreaker after sets of 4-6 and 7-6, but ultimately fell 10-5 in the breaker.

In the final slot, Lucas Zandboer pushed his opponent to the limit in the first set, losing a 7-6 (8-5) tiebreaker before falling 7-5 in the second set.

Though the result wasn't a win, the Eagles' performance in doubles and the two three-set marathons in singles highlight a team that is remarkably close to turning the corner against top-tier regional opponents.