NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 2 seed Carleton College men's team dispatched Macalester College for the second time in a week, this time by a 5-0 score in the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs. With the result, the Knights advance to the conference tournament finals at top seed Gustavus Adolphus College.
 
Coming off a 9-0 victory over the Scots (11-7) last Saturday, Carleton (15-5) had more trouble exerting control in doubles this time, but the Knights eventually won the three early contests, albeit two of them in tiebreakers.
 
Yuv Kataria (So./Kolkata, India/Weil Academy & College Prep) and Aniketh Vipparla (So./Cary, N.C./Green Hope) gave the hosts the early 1-0 lead with their 8-5 triumph at No. 2 doubles. It was the duo's 10th doubles triumph the season, the most of any pairing on the Carleton roster.
 
Tarm Rojanasoonthon (Fy./Bangkok, Thailand/Chulalongkorn) and Aswath Viswanathan (Jr./Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) improved to 4-0 as the No. 1 pairing with their 8-7 (7-4) victory atop the lineup.
 
Bence Kisgeczi (Sr./Budapest, Hungary/Szent István) and Noah Mueller (Jr./Dubai, UAE/German International School Dubai) grinded out an 8-7 (7-2) win at the No. 3 slot to complete the doubles sweep.
 
"It was a tough battle in the doubles to start the match," noted Carleton head coach Stephan Zweifel, "but the promise of another free meal tomorrow inspired the guys to dig deep and pull out the tiebreaker victories."
 
Buoyed by the 3-0 lead, it became a race to see which Knights could capture the final two points needed to clinch the match.
 
Viswanathan was the first to finish, claiming his No. 5 singles match by a 6-1, 6-1 score.
 
Rojanasoonthon notched the 15th victory of his rookie season with a 6-2, 6-0 result at No. 1 singles, securing Carleton's spot in the next round.
 
Kartaria, Tate Fuller (Fy./Seattle, Wash./Lakeside), and Will Stepanski (Jr./Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) were also each up a set at the time the match was stopped. Fuller held a 6-3, 4-1 led at No. 4 singles, while Stepanski was in front 6-4, 1-0 at the sixth slot. Kataria's match at No. 2 singles went into the scorebook at 6-0, 4-4.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will visit No. 16 ranked Gustavus Adolphus at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 7 for the MIAC Playoffs title and with it the conference's automatic bid the NCAA Championships. These two programs have met in the finals five times in the last six years and 12 times overall since 2007. Carleton upset the Gustavus to win the playoff title in 2010, the Gusties' only loss to a conference foe since the 1986 campaign.
 
#15 Carleton College 5, Macalester 0
Singles competition
1. #7 Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CAR) def. Alec Sargent (MAC) 6-2, 6-0
2. Yuv Kataria (CAR) vs. Karsten Knutsen (MAC) 6-0, 4-4, unfinished
3. Xander Roti (CAR) vs. Jordan Doi (MAC) 4-5, unfinished
4. Tate Fuller (CAR) vs. Matthew Sullivan (MAC) 6-3, 4-1, unfinished
5. Aswath Viswanathan (CAR) def. Alexander Poland (MAC) 6-1, 6-1
6. Will Stepanski (CAR) vs. Lucas Wood (MAC) 6-4, 1-0, unfinished
 
Doubles competition
1. Tarm Rojanasoonthon/Aswath Viswanathan (CAR) def. Alec Sargent/Matthew Sullivan (MAC) 8-7 (7-4)
2. Yuv Kataria/Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) def. Josh Marine/Jordan Doi (MAC) 8-5
3. Bence Kisgeczi/Noah Mueller (CAR) def. Alexander Poland/Liam Lynch (MAC) 8-7 (7-2)