NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Yuv Kataria (Fy./Kolkata, India/Weil Academy & College Prep) and Aswath Viswanathan (So./Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) both went 4-0 on the day as the Carleton College men's tennis team closed the regular season with an 8-1 victory over Macalester College and a 9-0 shutout of Hamline University.
 
One day after the Knights (8-1, 7-1 MIAC) clinched a postseason berth, the two victories on Saturday secured not a first-round bye but also home-court advantage in the semifinals of next week's MIAC Playoffs.
 
"I was not looking forward to playing a doubleheader on a day that was finally hot enough to complain about how hot it is," said Carleton head coach Stephan Zweifel, "but credit to the strength and conditioning program for preparing us."
 
Against Macalester (5-3, 5-3 MIAC), the Knights swept all three doubles matches with Kataria pairing with William Walsh (Jr./San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) on an 8-3 triumph and Viswanathan teaming with Aniketh Vipparla (Fy./Cary, N.C./Green Hope) for an 8-6 result. The regionally-ranked duo of seniors Leo Vithoontien (Bangkok, Thailand/Bangkok Patana School) and Xander Zuczek (Westerly, R.I./St. Bernard) got back in the win column 8-7.
 
Upon moving to singles, Carleton saw straight-set victories from VIthoontien, Xander Roti (Jr./Locust Valley, N.Y./Friends Academy), Kataria, Walsh, and Viswanathan.
 
The lone point for Macalester came at No. 5 singles where the Scots' Matthew Sullivan prevailed in a third-set super tiebreaker 6-3, 5-7, 10-6.
 
Following the match, Carleton boarded the bus and headed to St. Paul to face the Pipers (3-10, 1-8 MIAC).
 
Kataria and Viswanathan led the way with an 8-6 victory at No. 1 doubles in their first match atop the lineup. Christof Zweifel (Sr./Northfield, Minn./Northfield) and Noah Mueller (So./Dubai, UAE/German International School Dubai) prevailed a No. 2 doubles by the same score and Will Stepanski (So./Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) and Vipparla secured the doubles sweep by an 8-2 margin.
 
Kataria played No. 1 singles for the first time this season and picked up the 6-3, 7-6 win.
 
"Like a pesky mosquito in your bedroom at night, Yuv's game is not going to let you rest," Stephan Zweifel said.
 
Despite the close match at the top of the lineup, the Knights cruised to more comfortable victories in the other five singles matches as Vipparla, Mueller, Viswanathan, Stepanski, and Christof Zweifel combined to drop only 11 total games.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS
Carleton hosts No. 3 seed St. Thomas in the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs. That match is slated for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 6.
 
BOX SCORE vs. MACALESTER
Singles competition
1. #2 Leo Vithoontien (CAR) def. Sam Hochberger (MAC) 6-1, 6-2
2. Xander Roti (CAR) def. Jeffrey Jorgensen (MAC) 6-3, 7-5
3. Yuv Kataria (CAR) def. Karsten Knutsen (MAC) 6-1, 6-3
4. William Walsh (CAR) def. Ben White (MAC) 6-2, 6-2
5. Matthew Sullivan (MAC) def. Noah Mueller (CAR) 6-3, 5-7, 10-6
6. Aswath Viswanathan (CAR) def. Alexander Poland (MAC) 7-5, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
1. #5 Leo Vithoontien/Xander Zuczek (CAR) def. Sam Hochberger/Ben White (MAC) 8-7 (7-3)
2. William Walsh/Yuv Kataria (CAR) def. Matthew Sullivan/Aidan Toner-Rodgers (MAC) 8-3
3. Aswath Viswanathan/Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) def. Jeffrey Jorgensen/Alexander Poland (MAC) 8-6
 
BOX SCORE vs. HAMLINE
Singles competition
1. Yuv Kataria (CAR) def. Nazeer Robinson (HU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) def. Sam Thompson (HU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Noah Mueller (CAR) def. Isaac Hultberg (HU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Aswath Viswanathan (CAR) def. Dominic Warzecha (HU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Will Stepanski (CAR) def. Sean Le (HU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Christof Zweifel (CAR) def. Allan Yang (HU) 6-0, 6-0
 
Doubles competition
1. Yuv Kataria/Aswath Viswanathan (CAR) def. Nazeer Robinson/Sam Thompson (HU) 8-6
2. Christof Zweifel/Noah Mueller (CAR) def. Isaac Hultberg/Dominic Warzecha (HU) 8-6
3. Will Stepanski/Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) def. Sean Le/Allan Yang (HU) 8-2