Staff Writer- Nathan Swanson
This last weekend, the No. 23rd nationally ranked Men’s Tennis team competed in three home matches at the Swanson Tennis Center. The match on Saturday was against their MIAC opponent, the Carleton Knights. Gustavus beat the Knights 6-1. On Sunday, their first match earlier in the day was against the Bethany Lutheran Vikings, a non-conference opponent. Later in the afternoon, Gustavus would go against the McCalester Scots in another MIAC battle. In both matches on Sunday, the Gusties would come away with impressive sweeps, winning 7-0 respectively. On Monday, following the matches, Senior Gage Gohl was named the MIAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week. He was 4-0 in the #1 singles and the #1 doubles events.
“I was really proud of our performances throughout all three matches this weekend. Playing that much in one weekend is not easy, but the team did an incredible job taking it one match at a time and staying present in each one,” said Gohl.
Both Carleton and Gustavus headed into Saturday’s match undefeated within the MIAC Conference. Carleton this year has had some notable wins within the conference. They traveled to St. Mary’s University and beat the Cardinals 7-0 in late January. In early April, they played in Minneapolis against Macalester College and won 7-0 as well. With both teams undefeated, the match would be a battle to see who would come out still undefeated in MIAC play. “Carleton is always tricky. We have played them two times a year my entire time here so they are very familiar with the way we play and the systems we run. It is always challenging to play against players and coaches you know so well and see so often,” said Gohl. Noah Hakim and Owen Skanse played in the #3 doubles event for Gustavus and won 6-0 with a sweep. In the #1 doubles event, Gohl and Senior Tyler Haddorff earned the doubles team point, winning 6-2. In the #2 doubles event, Junior Dominik Knutson and Sophomore Takura Mhwandagara were victorious, winning 7-5. Beginning the singles events, Sophomore Quinn Monson won 6-1,6-1 in the #6 singles. This helped the Gusties start strong, leading 2-0 against the Knights. In the #5 singles event, Senior Luke Fridinger won 6-2, 6-1. Knutson in the #2 singles won 6-1,6-4 which gained the fourth team point. Winning the fifth team point in the #3 singles, Haddorff won 6-2,6-3. Gohl won the #1 singles match 6-0, 7-6, (7-5). Carleton won the #4 singles to avoid the sweep, but Gustavus would win against them 6-1. The loss to Gustavus was Carleton’s first MIAC conference loss of the season.
Sunday saw the Gusties back in action as their first match of the day was against Bethany. Bethany Lutheran, from the Upper Midwest Conference (UMAC), was 12-5 overall before playing Gustavus and they are 3-0 in their conference play. Senior Joseph Li and Senior Ali Derbani won the #3 doubles 6-3. In the #2 doubles, Senior Aadityaa Juniwal and Fridinger won 6-4, and gained the first team point for the Gusties. Sophomore Yash Bahalkar and First-year Ethan Ellor won 7-6 in the #1 doubles match. In the #1 singles event, Hakim won 6-1,6-1, which earned the second team point for Gustavus. They then went up 3-0 after Juniwal won 6-0,6-4 in the #6 singles. Skanske won 6-3, 6-4 in the #2 singles event. Winning the #3 singles Bahalkar won 6-1, 7-5. Li won 7-6, 6-4 in the #4 singles. This was followed by Derbani who finished the sweep against Bethany 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 winning the #5 singles event.
Gustavus’s second match on Sunday was against Macalester. The Scots heading into their match against the Gusties were 8-8 this year in overall record within the MIAC. Hakim and Skanse won 6-2 in the #3 doubles event. In the #2 doubles match Knutson and Mhwandagara won 6-1, and Gustavus gained a doubles team point. Finishing the doubles events Gohl and Hadorff won the #1 doubles 6-3. In the #5 singles event Mwandagara won 6-1, 6-1 and the Gusties got their second team point against Macalester. Winning 6-3, 6-2 in the #2 singles event Knutson got Gustavus another point and they were up 3-0. Gohl would win the #1 singles 6-0, 6-1 clinching the win. In the #3 singles Haddorff won 6-1, 6-0. Monson won 6-1, 6-3 in the #6 singles event. Frindinger would help Gustavus close out the match with a #4 singles victory, winning 6-2, 6-0. This completed the second sweep of the day for Gustavus.
Looking ahead, the men’s tennis team will finish their regular season with a match at home against St. Scholastica on Saturday, April 25th. The match will be played in the Swanson Tennis Center at 3:30 p.m. Once the match is finished against St. Scholastica, it will be time for the playoffs, which will be the following week. This year’s MIAC Men’s Tennis Playoffs will begin on Wednesday, April 29th, starting with the quarterfinals matches. Semifinals will be played on Friday, May 1st, and the MIAC Championship will be on Saturday, May 2nd. As a Senior Gohl appreciates what the tennis program has meant to him, and the joy of being a part of it along with being here at Gustavus. “The coaching staff is incredible, instilling so many skills and values into us that help us on court, but more importantly in life. Their support for us as people is incredible. The alumni and athletic department continue to support our program tremendously in many ways we are so grateful for. Being a D3 athlete while also getting a premium experience here at Gustavus is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. There is nowhere else I’d rather be than here,” Gohl said.