PELLA — The Central College men's tennis team pulled off a clean sweep in the American Rivers Conference tournament quarterfinals, defeating Loras College 5-0 Tuesday night.

Central advances to the semifinals Friday afternoon at Decorah against the top-ranked Luther College team. It's the ninth-consecutive appearance in the semifinals for the Dutch, dating back to 2013.

"We played some of our toughest tennis today," coach Ryun Ferrell said. "It wasn't the best we've played but it was by far the toughest. I was pleased to see that."
           
Stacking up a 3-0 lead after doubles, Nick Scott (sophomore, Fort Benton, Mont., Great Falls Central Catholic HS) won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
           
"When Nick hits his spots, he can probably beat anybody in the league," Ferrell said. "He ebbed and flowed a little bit but he was in complete control."
           
Brad DiLeo (senior, Iowa City, West HS) ended the match with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles.
           
"Brad's been working really hard on slowing down a little bit," Ferrell said. "He comes out of the blocks a little too fast and then he has nowhere to go. He found a nice rhythm tonight."
           
DiLeo and Caleb Hamerlinck (junior, Huxley, Ballard HS) won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles. Scott and Tanner Finken (junior, Carroll) won 8-7 (9-7) at No. 1 doubles and Matthew Den Adel (junior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) and Trey Melvin (junior, Lawrence, Kan., Free State HS) won 8-7 (6-2) at No. 3 doubles.
           
The Dutch fell 7-2 against the Norse on March 5. Luther went 8-0 in league matches to win the regular season title. The Norse have also won the last two postseason tournaments.
           
"We're looking forwarded to the challenge," Ferrell said. "We've got a couple of days to get ready and then we'll go pick a fight."