Men win twelfth consecutive MIAC title while running win streak to 214
The fifth-ranked Gustavus Men’s Tennis team recently clinched their twentieth consecutive MIAC championship with a victory over nationally ranked Carleton. The Gusties have been great so far this season and they have had no problem adjusting to the outdoor courts. They posted a perfect 9-0 MIAC regular season record with their victory over the Knights, who were also undefeated at the time.
“With slow courts, your serve is not as effective due to flat serves not skidding but sitting. So more spin on first serves [and] more consistent returns are very important for singles and especially in doubles,” said Junior Ben Tomasek. Individually, the Gustavus squad has posted a 77-4 record on their way to the title this season, with only one regular season match to go.
Gustavus was slightly favored going into the final match against Carleton, but the Knights were hoping to steal one from the Gusties. Carleton’s hopes were squashed quickly as each of the three Gustavus doubles teams won relatively lopsided victories. Senior Andy Bryan and Junior Charlie Paukert, Junior Mike Burdakin and Senior John Kauss and Juniors Nick Hansen and Ben Tomasek all came through with victories in their respective doubles matches. The Gusties then went on to win all six of their singles matches, and five out of the six in straight sets. Bryan, Kauss, Burdakin, Paukert, Tomasek and Senior Aaron Zenner rounded out the lineup of Gusties earning wins in the matches.
The Gusties had two follow-up matches after Carleton, one against Luther and another versus Wartburg. The Gusties won the Luther match 8-1 with victories from their top three doubles teams as well as wins from Bryan, Kauss, Burdakin, Paukert and Zenner in singles.
The Wartburg match ended 9-0 in favor of the Gusties with doubles victories from Juniors Eric Ice and Ashwok Jethwa, Juniors Theo Roth and Matt Nelson and Junior Josh Knutson and Sophomore Krishan Jethwa. All six of those players also had singles wins in the match.
The Carleton win extends Gustavus’ regular season win streak to 214 matches—the last loss coming in 1986. “I didn’t even know the number or really have a clue on how many wins in a row we had, but I knew it was a lot. We just come into each match focused like any other,” said Tomasek.
As of now, the Gusties hold a season record of 24-5, and hope to improve it with their final match of the regular season. On Sunday the men’s team will travel to Milwaukee, WI, to face Kalamazoo College.
As of late, winning doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Gustavus Women’s Tennis team, either. The Gustavus women’s squad posted three wins this past weekend, two coming on Saturday with split-squad victories against Wartburg and St. Catherine and the third on Sunday against St. Benedict. With the three victories, the team bumped its overall season record to 16-8 and remains unbeaten in the MIAC at 6-0.
Saturday’s matches required a split squad for the Gusties, who hosted Wartburg while also playing a match against St. Catherine in St. Paul. The Gusties started off the Wartburg match in great fashion, winning their first two doubles matches with Junior Christine Reimer and First-year Marianne Barau, and First-years Brittany Templin and Julie Bardenwerper, both coming out on top. The team went on to win four of its six singles matches in straight sets, with wins coming from Templin, Bardenwerper, Barau and Sophomore Alison Utke.
The Gusties didn’t have much trouble trouncing St. Catherine’s, as the team won 9-0 without dropping a single set. Gustavus won all three doubles matches played by Senior Jenni White and Sophomore Sierra Krebsbach, Sophomore Ali O’Neil and First-year Sam Frank, as well as Junior Erica Dobson and Senior Jenny Arnfelt. They finished their matches 8-1, 8-2 and 8-3, respectively. All six players posted wins in singles, as well, while neither Krebsbach nor Frank lost a game.
The women’s team completed the weekend by traveling to St. Joseph to take on St. Ben’s on Sunday, where the Gusties posted another 9-0 victory and lost only one set. Once again, Gustavus’ top three doubles teams all earned wins. White, Reimer, Krebsbach, O’Neil, Frank, Dobson and Arnfelt all pulled double duty, earning matches in both singles and doubles.
The team is preparing for a very big weekend to wrap up the season, which will consist of four conference matches through Monday, including a Sunday afternoon match-up against the also unbeaten St. Thomas squad. The team travels to Hamline University on Friday before hosting both St. Mary’s and St. Thomas on Sunday at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. The Gusties will wrap up the stretch by traveling to St. Olaf on Monday.
Photo by: Alex Stassen