SIU men’s tennis swept Hartford 5-0 in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which advances the Dawgs to the semifinals on Saturday.

“We played well today, and did what we had to do to advance to the semifinals,” SIU head coach Dann Nelson said in a press release. 

The Salukis started strong with a 6-1 doubles win from sophomores Daniel Martinez and Peter Molloy, which counts as their 10th win on the season.

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Junior Wilder Pimentel and sophomore Alex Pozo followed that up with a 6-2 win, locking up the doubles point for SIU. 

The Dawgs racked up the singles points with Pimentel, Molloy, junior Piotr Baranski and senior Jonny Rigby all winning in two sets and not allowing more than two points in any set. 

The Salukis face Drake at 2 p.m. on Saturday with a chance to reach the final round on Sunday.

SIU beat No. 46 Drake 4-3 last Saturday for the first time since 2009.

Last week’s win over Drake clinched a share of the regular-season title for the Salukis with Wichita State. It’s the first regular-season title in program history.

Jacob Gaertner can be reached at [email protected] or at 618-536-3303.