The Lake Forest College men's tennis team extended its winning streak to five matches with a 4-1 victory over the University of California, Santa Cruz on Sunday.

The Banana Slugs actually won the first point of the match by taking two of three in doubles. Sophomore Joao Espindola and freshman Tim Pasea doubled up their opponents 6-3 at #3 but the point went to the visitors, who came out on top 6-4 at #2 and earned a tiebreaker win at #1.

The top four singles matches were out on the courts next and the Foresters prevailed in each of them. Senior George Ciuca took both sets 6-2 at #3 and was the first to finish. Junior Rodrigo Cunha was next and his 6-3, 6-4 win at #4 gave the home team the lead. Sophomore Felipe Moraes battled to a narrow 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) victory at the top spot in the lineup, bringing the Foresters to within a point of clinching the contest.

The match at #2 singles, however, began with Santa Cruz taking the first set 7-5 but junior Bernardo Aguiar battled back to win the second 6-4. Set three was tied at three before Aguiar won the next three games to complete the 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Freshman Zeke Basharat and Espindola were down a set but ahead early in set two at #5 and #6 singles, respectively, when Aguiar finished and the match was called.

The Foresters improved to 9-5 this season while Santa Cruz fell to 4-9.

Lake Forest will begin Midwest Conference play at home next Saturday, taking on Monmouth College at 9:00 in the morning and Illinois College at 3:00 p.m.