Colorado Springs native John Adams Wins First Singles at MWC Tournament

LAKE FOREST, IL (06/14/2013)(readMedia)-- Men's tennis player John Adams (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain) captured the #1 singles title at the Midwest Conference Championships recently.

Adams, a senior, took on the top seed from Carroll University, who had not lost to a league opponent this season, in the championship match. After falling 7-5 in the first set, Adams took the second 6-0. The Foresters' top player then pulled out a 7-5 triumph in the third set to stake his claim as the best player in the conference.

Adams had defeated the #1 singles player from Knox College 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and the best from Lawrence University 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals.

After winning his third career singles title on Saturday, Adams teamed up with freshman Mike Riley in the #1 doubles tournament on Sunday. Despite not being seeded among the top four in the conference, Adams and Riley defeated the second-seeded team from Grinnell College 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and knocked off the third-seeded team from St. Norbert College 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals. They were eventually edged out 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) by top seed Monmouth College in the final.

Adams had also claimed conference championships at #3 singles as a freshman, #2 singles as a sophomore, and #2 doubles last year. He is the Foresters' first three-time singles champion since 1950 and just the third player in league history to win titles at three different singles positions.

In addition to making history by winning another title, Adams also became the winningest player in team annals with 132 career victories in singles and doubles combined, surpassing the previous record of 128 set by Joe Campagna in 2010. Adams' 74 career singles wins also rank first in school history.