PELLA — Making it to its 10th straight American Rivers Conference semifinal, the Central College men's tennis team defeated Nebraska Wesleyan University 5-1 in the quarterfinals Tuesday night.
           
The Dutch (12-10) advance to the semifinal Thursday at No. 2 Coe College. The Dutch have played in every conference tournament semifinal since 2013.
           
Central got the ball rolling with an 8-0 win from Alejo Marcon (freshman, Knoxville, Pella Christian HS) and AJ Wilkins (sophomore, Grinnell) at No. 3 doubles.
           
"They have been playing really well as of late," coach Ryun Ferrell said. "Their opponents hadn't played a lot of matches together so we were able to take care of business."
           
The No. 1 tandem of Caleb Hamerlinck (senior, Huxley, Ballard HS) and Nick Scott (junior, Fort Benton, Mont., Great Falls Central Catholic HS) followed suit with an 8-2 win.
           
"When they keep it simple, they look so good," Ferrell said. "They waited for their opportunity, and they got it and then were able to execute it."
           
Scott added a No. 2 singles win by a 6-0, 6-1 margin.
           
"He played Will Olson not that long ago and needed a tiebreaker to beat him in the first set," Ferrell said. "Today he was all over him and snuffed out any hope he had."
           
Ayden Fletcher (sophomore, Waukee) and Matthew Den Adel (senior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) added wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, by identical 6-0, 6-2 margins.
           
Central will play in Cedar Rapids at 4 p.m. Thursday. Coe beat Central 5-1 in Pella last Saturday.
           
"We lost all three doubles so close and went down 3-0," Ferrell said. "We've got to find a way to turn that around and get something out of the doubles. We've got to be just as disciplined as them. We're looking forward to playing them again."