PELLA — Peaking at the right time, the Central College men's tennis team breezed past Simpson College 5-0 Tuesday night in the American Rivers Conference tournament semifinals.
           
Central (7-2) ran its winning streak against Simpson (5-11) to 46 matches and will appear in the league semifinals for the ninth straight year.
           
"We just took care of business," coach Ryun Ferrell said. "We've been playing pretty good doubles all year and singles has been solid."
           
After a 3-0 sweep in doubles, Tanner Finken (senior, Carroll) got the first singles win 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 3 slot.
           
"That's the best I've seen Tanner play this year," Ferrell said. "He was focused and executed well but had a big smile on his face. He's such a serious person so it was fun to see him be like that."
           
Ethan St. John (senior, Crystal Lake, Ill., Central HS) won the race to win the fifth point and secure the match, taking the No. 5 singles match 6-1, 7-5
           
"Tanner won in a very fast fashion and then after that there was a lot of scoreboard watching," Ferrell said. "The focus kind of dwindled just a tad because everybody's thinking about who is going to get the fifth point."
           
St. John and Finken were 8-2 winners at No. 3 doubles. William Isiminger (senior, North Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS) and Brad DiLeo (junior, Iowa City, West HS) won 8-4 at No. 1 doubles and David Boschma (senior, Olathe, Kan., Northwest HS) and Trey Melvin (sophomore, Lawrence, Kan., Free State HS) won 8-5 at No. 2 doubles.
           
Central advances to play the No. 2 seed Coe College in the semifinals on Friday. The match is set for 4 p.m. in Decorah. No. 5 Wartburg College and No. 1 Luther College play in the other semifinal at the same time and location.