ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Carleton College men's tennis team won its seventh consecutive match, rallying from down 2-1 after doubles to prevail 5-4 over Luther College in a meeting between regionally-ranked squads. Three of the Knights' four victories in singles came in third set super tiebreakers.
 
Carleton (15-2) is ranked No. 10 in the Central Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, while Luther (15-7) is listed at No. 15.
 
The No. 1 doubles match featured regionally-ranked tandems for both sides, but Max Loen and Luke Westholder pulled out a win for the Norse, slipping past Tarm Rojanasoonthon (So./Bangkok, Thailand/Chulalongkorn) and Tate Fuller (So./Seattle, Wash./Lakeside) by an 8-7 (7-3) tally. Luther added an 8-6 victory at the second slot, while Yuv Kataria (Jr./Kolkata, India/Weil Academy & College Prep) and Aniketh Vipparla (Jr./Cary, N.C./Green Hope) got the Knights on the board with their 8-3 triumph at No. 3 doubles.
 
Rojanasoonthon and Westholder are both ranked in singles, but the Carleton sophomore rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3) victory at the No. 1 spot, tying the match at 2-2.
 
Loen gave the Norse back the lead with his 6-4, 6-4 triumph at No. 2 singles, but Carleton's Zach Leslie (Fy./Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn) prevailed 6-3, 5-7. 1-0 (10-7) at the fifth slot, leveling the match once again.
 
At No. 4 singles, Ozzie Viswanathan (Sr./Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) secured his seventh consecutive victory and gave Carleton its third super tiebreaker win of the day—this one by a 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6) margin. Luther evened the competition, however, after claiming a 7-5, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles.
 
That left the outcome of the match to be decided at No. 3 singles, where Kataria eventually notched a 6-4, 6-4 result to give Carleton the narrow triumph.
 
"Winning three out of three third set tiebreakers to clinch the match was a phenomenal display of mental toughness," said Carleton head coach Stephan Zweifel. "Tarm, Ozzie, and Zach earned the large fries with their meal today!"
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton hosts Macalester College in a match moved to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19.