NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College men's tennis team, the No. 2 seed in the MIAC Playoffs, dispatched No. 3 seed University of St. Thomas by a 6-1 score on Thursday afternoon. Leo Vithoontien (Sr./Bangkok, Thailand/Bangkok Patana School), Yuv Kataria (Fy./Kolkata, India/Weil Academy & College Prep), and William Walsh (Jr./San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) each won in both doubles and singles.
 
"It was fun being able to compete against St. Thomas one last time," said Carleton head coach Stephan Zweifel. "We have a long history and spirited rivalry, and we wish them well in the future."
 
With the victory, the Knights advance to the finals of the conference tournament and will take on top seed Gustavus Adolphus College with the MIAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Championships at stake.
 
Vithoontien and Xander Zuczek (Sr./Westerly, R.I./St. Bernard), ranked No. 5 in the latest Central Region rankings by the NCAA, prevailed by an 8-6 margin atop the doubles lineup. Walsh and Kataria won at No. 2 doubles by an 8-5 score. St. Thomas picked up its lone victory at No. 3 doubles by an 8-6 tally.
 
Upon moving to singles, Vithoontien quickly netted a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles. Xander Roti (Jr./Locust Valley, N.Y./Friends Academy) added a 6-2, 6-2 triumph at the second spot, putting the Knights on the brink of victory.
 
It then became a race between Kataria and Walsh to see who could claim the deciding team point. In the end, both matches finished with the same score (6-3, 6-4) and at nearly the same time. Kataria recorded the victory at No. 3 singles, while Walsh was the winner at the No. 4 slot.
 
The other two singles matches were left unfinished.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS
Carleton travels to St. Peter, Minn. for a 1:00 p.m. match against Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday, May 8. This will be the 11th time since 2007 that the Knights and Gusties will match up in the MIAC Playoff Championship. When the two squads met earlier this season, the Gusties prevailed 6-3 in a match that saw four of the singles matches require third-set tiebreakers.
 
BOX SCORE
Singles competition
1. #2 Leo Vithoontien (CAR) def. Frank Stich (UST-M21) 6-0, 6-1
2. Xander Roti (CAR) def. Lennart Buhl (UST-M21) 6-2, 6-2
3. Yuv Kataria (CAR) def. Myles Krzewinski (UST-M21) 6-3, 6-4
4. William Walsh (CAR) def. Tristan Fjelstad (UST-M21) 6-3, 6-4
5. Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) vs. Aashish Bharath (UST-M21) 5-7, 5-4, unfinished
6. Noah Mueller (CAR) vs. Anshul Bharath (UST-M21) 6-1, 1-6, unfinished
 
Doubles competition
1. #5 Leo Vithoontien/Xander Zuczek (CAR) def. Frank Stich/Tristan Fjelstad (UST-M21) 8-6
2. William Walsh/Yuv Kataria (CAR) def. Myles Krzewinski/Sterling Sibley (UST-M21) 8-5
3. Aashish Bharath/Anshul Bharath (UST-M21) def. Aswath Viswanathan/Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) 8-6