ST. PETER, Minn. – The Carleton College men's tennis team endured its first conference loss of the season, falling 7-2 at No. 17 Gustavus Adolphus College. The two teams entered the day as the only squads still undefeated in MIAC action, and they have finished 1-2 in the conference standings for each of the last 18 completed seasons.
 
"I'm very proud of how we battled against one of the best teams in our region," said Carleton head coach Stephan Zweifel. "We approached this match as Mark Twain suggested: 'If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first.'"
 
The doubles matches were close, especially considering that the Gusties feature a pair of regionally-ranked tandems. William Walsh (Sr./San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) and Aswath Viswanathan (Jr./Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) sent their No. 2 doubles match to a tiebreaker before falling 8-7, while rookies Tarm Rojanasoonthon (Fy./Bangkok, Thailand/Chulalongkorn) and Tate Fuller (Fy./Seattle, Wash./Lakeside) lost 8-6 to 2021 NCAA semifinalists Nick Aney and Alex Budde at No. 1 doubles.
 
In singles, Xander Roti (Sr./Locust Valley, N.Y./Friends Academy) rallied from a set down to win 2-6, 6-3, 10-6 at the third slot. Bence Kisgeczi (Sr./Budapest, Hungary/Szent István) also prevailed in a tiebreaker 7-5, 3-6, 10-7 at No. 6 singles.
 
At No. 1 singles, Rojanasoonthon came up just short against senior Indraneel Raut 7-5, 7-5 in a clash of two of the top singles players in the region.
 
Yuv Kataria (So./Kolkata, India/Weil Academy & College Prep) was edged by Aney, who is regionally-ranked, 6-4 and 6-2 at the second slot. Budde defeated Fuller 6-2, 6-3 at the fourth spot, and Viswanathan came up short 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5 singles.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton closes the regular season with three road matches, the first of which comes at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 24 at Saint John's University.
 
#6 Gustavus Adolphus 7, #15 Carleton College 2
Singles competition
1. #8 Indraneel Raut (GACM) def. #6 Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CAR) 7-5, 7-5
2. #21 Nick Aney (GACM) def. Yuv Kataria (CAR) 6-4, 6-2
3. Xander Roti (CAR) def. Daniel Fouchier (GACM) 2-6, 6-3, 10-6
4. Alex Budde (GACM) def. Tate Fuller (CAR) 6-2, 6-3
5. Rafael Costa (GACM) def. Aswath Viswanathan (CAR) 6-4, 6-2
6. Bence Kisgeczi (CAR) def. Jack Bergmeyer (GACM) 7-5, 3-6, 10-7
 
Doubles competition
1. #4 Nick Aney/Alex Budde (GACM) def. Tarm Rojanasoonthon/Tate Fuller (CAR) 8-6
2. #15 Daniel Fouchier/Sourabh Terakanambi (GACM) def. William Walsh/Aswath Viswanathan (CAR) 8-7
3. Drew Elofson/Josh Christensen (GACM) def. Yuv Kataria/Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) 8-4