Last season, the Gustie Men’s Tennis team faced Chicago twice – once in the regular season and the other in the second round of the NCAA Championships. The Black and Gold fell both times to the Maroons, including a 5-4 decision in the early going, and falling yet again by a 5-2 score in the play-to-decision format of the big dance. Gustavus last faced Kalamazoo in 2014 and took down the Hornets by an 8-1 count.
Unfortunately for the Black and Gold, the Gustavus Adolphus College men’s tennis team dropped a 7-2 decision to No. 5 University of Chicago on Saturday afternoon at West Bend High School. The loss drops the Gusties to 19-7 overall, including a 3-6 mark against nationally-ranked foes.
“Our guys competed very well today,” Coach Tommy Valentini said. “We set the tone early with some solid play in the doubles. Chicago is obviously a talented group on the singles court…hats off to them on a weIl-played match. Our guys showed spirit and poise in singles. We now turn our focus to preparing for Kalamazoo tomorrow.”
This refocus definitely shown through, as the Men’s Tennis team earned two non-conference victories on Sunday morning, including a 7-2 defeat of nationally-ranked No. 37 Kalamazoo College in Elkhorn, Wis. and a 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran College at the Brown Outdoor Tennis Complex. With the pair of wins, the Gusties move to 21-7 overall heading into their final regular season match next Saturday.
“The guys put together a great bounce-back effort today,” Coach Tommy Valentini, commenting on the earlier national loss Gustavus suffered, said. “They were extremely poised and showed great trust in one another to pick up the sweep in doubles. This gave us a great lift in singles. Ekstein and Whaling executed their game plans beautifully to get us to 5, and everyone competed hard in singles today. KZoo is a very strong and well coached group. We share a long standing, special rivalry with them, and we feel fortunate with today’s result.”
Against Kalamazoo, the Gusties started strong, earning a sweep in doubles play. While Mohanad Alhouni and Andres Saenz earned a strong 8-4 win at No. 1, Zach Ekstein and Tommy Entwistle squeaked out a 9-8 decision at No. 2, and topping off the day Mitch Elofson and David Hagberg took home an 8-6 victory at No. 3.
In singles play, Ekstein and Elofson each earned straight-set wins at the second and third spots, respectively, while Gabe Steinwand and Patrick Whaling added the other two points at the fifth and sixth positions.
A separate squad stayed back to take on Bethany Lutheran and was able to sweep the Vikings. The doubles combos of Mason Bulje and Taylor Parr, and Collin Sandgren and Alex Senjem, and Joakim Ekfeldt and Grahamm Kellogg earned 8-4, 8-3, and 8-2 wins at the first, second, and third doubles positions, respectively.
In singles play, Bultje, Ekfeldt, and Sandgren each earned straight-set wins at the first, second, and third positions, respectively. Con-Aras Theirhoff, Alex Smith, and JJ Janssen picked up the remaining victories at the fourth, fifth, and sixth spots, dropping just six games between the three of them, including a 6-0, 6-0 win from Janssen at No. 6.
“The guys were focused from their first doubles points until their last singles points,” Assistant Coach David Lachman said. “Despite not having played outside much yet this season, they successfully implemented their strategies, and attitude, effort, and sportsmanship were exceptional across the board.”
The implications of these final matches are huge, as Gustavus and Carleton are the only two remaining teams in the MIAC that have stayed undefeated in the conference, with Carleton and Gustavus posting records of 6-0 and 8-0 respectively. Though Carleton has a one game advantage in losses, Gustavus possesses a seven game win advantage. The Gusties will then conclude their regular season next Saturday when it hosts Carleton College at the Brown Outdoor Tennis Complex in a 2 p.m. match.
Meanwhile, the Gustie women face familiar foes in St. Olaf and St. Thomas. Last season, Gustavus took down the Oles twice – once in the regular season 8-1 and the other in the MIAC Playoff Semifinals 5-1. The Black and Gold also saw the Tommies twice last year and went 1-1, where Gustavus won the first go-around 6-3, but were upset not long after and fell to St. Thomas less than one week later 5-2 in the conference playoff championship match. This season, both matches figure to be plenty competitive again, as the Gusties, Oles, and Tommies are three-of-four teams that remained undefeated in MIAC play heading into that weekend tourney.