MOUNT VERNON — Winning the final two singles matches of the day, the Central College men's tennis team came from behind to beat Cornell College 5-4 on Saturday.
           
A three-set victory by Josh Phillips (senior, Morton, Ill.) at No. 3 singles (0-6, 6-4, 6-2) tied the match at 4-4 before Brad DiLeo (freshman, Iowa City, West HS) clinched the team's victory at No. 5 singles with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph just a few minutes later.
           
"Josh played tough," coach Ryun Ferrell said. "He had his opponent so frustrated. I was really proud of him. For as big as Brad can play, you sometimes forget he's a freshman. Brad likes to make you run and his opponent wasn't afraid to run which could have created problems for Brad. He stayed patient and took care of business."
           
Central is now 3-4 on the season while Cornell slipped to 5-4.          
           
The Dutch found themselves in a hole after dropping two of the three doubles matches. Only Phillips and Ethan St. John (sophomore, Crystal Lake, Ill., Central HS) won, 8-1 at No. 3.
           
"Cornell played really good doubles against us and we probably didn't play our best," Ferrell said. "Being down 2-1 is not something you ever want, especially not against a good team like Cornell."
           
St. John blasted his opponent in 6-0, 6-0 singles win in the No. 6 spot. He was the first singles player to win and pulled the match even at 2-2.
           
"I was talking to a coach we were playing against earlier this season and he described Ethan as a teaching professional," Ferrell said. "A teaching pro's job is to never miss and get the ball back and make you work. Ethan pushes his opponents around a lot and they start to wonder what they've got to do take him down."
           
Kris Weeden (senior, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) tallied the team's other win, bagging a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles.
           
The Dutch will head to Missouri and Kansas for a two-game swing during spring break and will face William Jewell College (Mo.) and Washburn University (Kan.), both NCAA Division II schools.
           
"I'm glad we can get out of Iowa and play some good tennis teams," Ferrell said. "We're excited to go and play and hang out in Lawrence, Kansas for a few days."