The No. 7 ranked Gustavus Men’s Tennis team defeated Bethel and Augustana as well as the No. 9 ranked Washington University-St. Louis, improving their record to 13-5 overall and 4-0 in the MIAC.
Against a tough singles lineup from Washington University, the Gusties managed two wins from Junior Chase Johnson and Senior Tommy Entwistle who pulled off a three set win after losing 2-6 in the first.
In the doubles competition, Gustavus swept Washington 3-0 with victories from the duos of Senior Mohanad Alhouni and Junior Patrick Whaling, Entwistle and Johnson, and Senior Zach Ekstein and Sophomore Yassine Derbani.
The Gusties finished the match with a 5-4 victory over the Bears.
Gustavus took control of their match against Bethel University, winning 8-1.
In the singles event, the Gusties won five of six matches with Seniors Gabe Steinwand and Mason Bultje both winning in two sets, along with wins from Freshmen Xavier Sanga, Lawrence Hiquiana, and Mouaad Alhouni.
On the doubles side, all three pairings took home victories.
In their final match on Saturday, the Gusties held off Augustana for a 6-3 victory to close the weekend.
Bultje, Sanga, and Mouaad Alhouni all won in their respective matches while all three Gustie duos won their doubles matches.
“The entire team put together an outstanding effort today. The group at home played fantastic doubles against both Bethel and Augustana. In singles they showed some great poise in key spots and secured two great wins. In St. Louis the guys played aggressive doubles with great energy and executed our plans well. Wash U competes as well as anyone in the country and they made a big push in the singles,” Head Coach Tommy Valentini said.
On April 4, the Gusties matched up against No. 12 ranked Pomona-Pitzer and combined for a dominant 8-1 victory Wednesday night.
Their second match came against Hope International, where they lost 3-6 pushing the Gustie record to 14-6 overall.
Against Pomona-Pitzer, Gustavus was fueled by a strong showing in singles, where the Gusties won seven of their eight matches along with a doubles win from the duo of Ekstein and Bultje.
In a 3-6 loss to Hope International, the Gusties managed three wins in the singles matches with Sophomore Michael O’Neal besting his opponent in three matches, Sanga in two, and Mouaad Alhouni in three with a 12-10 third.
“The guys were truly outstanding today. The group that took on Hope International showed tremendous resilience to compete so well after coming up just short in the doubles. They played fantastic singles, never gave in, and competed with heart and belief. Against Pomona-Pitzer our entire team competed extremely well,” Valenti said.
On the following Friday, the Gusties split a pair of matches against Lewis & Clark, where they won 8-1, and No. 14 Westmont, losing 9-0.
In their first match of the day against Lewis & Clark, Gustavus won four of six singles matches as well as all three doubles events.
The Gusties had a more difficult time with Westmount who swept the field despite two tough matches from Senior Graham Kellog and Hiquina.
“The guys made very good progress today. We played solid doubles in both matches against very talented opponents. Against Westmont the guys fought hard in the singles and handled adversity extremely well,” Valentini said
In a duel of top-10 ranked teams, Gustavus dropped a 9-0 match against the sixth ranked stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, bumping their record to 15-8 and concluding their California trip.
Despite three set matches from Mohanad Alhouni, Whaling, and Derbani, the Gusties were still swept in doubles and singles play.
“The guys played hard today. CMS is an excellent team and they played a heck of a match against us. It wasn’t the result we were going for today, but we stuck together and will learn a lot from this one as we prepare for the challenges that lie ahead the rest of the way. Overall it was an outstanding spring trip for our team,” Valentini said.
Gustavus gets back to work on Friday, April 13 against the No. 4 ranked University of Chicago in a road match.