NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College men's tennis team dispatched cross-town rival St. Olaf College by a 9-0 tally on Monday, keeping the Knights undefeated in MIAC play and clinching a top-three seed for the conference postseason tournament.
 
Carleton (12-4, 7-0 MIAC) competed for the third consecutive day as scheduled matches against Macalester and St. Olaf bookending the completion of a rain-suspended match at Bethel that was completed on Sunday. The Knights arrived at the Pat Lamb Courts with momentum as "The guys all finally wore the same uniform," noted Carleton head coach Stephan Zweifel.
 
Tested early, Carleton was able to complete a sweep of doubles for the seventh time this season. Yuv Kataria and Cooper Kline combined on an 8-5 victory atop the lineup, while Aniketh Vipparla and Baiyun Jing followed with an 8-3 win at the third slot. Zach Leslie and Jack Rivkin prevailed in a tight tussle at No. 2 doubles, registering an 8-7 (7-5) result.
 
The Knights quickly clinched the team result behind singles triumphs by Viapparla and Rivkin at the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, with both securing their 10th solo victory of the year. Vipparla prevailed 6-2, 6-2 while Rivkin cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 result.
 
Soon after Kataria closed out a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles, while Jasper Yang contributed a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory at the third slot.
 
The other two singles matches required super tiebreakers. Kenton Young notched a 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (13-11) win at No. 6 singles, while Jing turned in his third come-from-behind triumph in as many days.
 
Jing once again dropped the first set before rallying for the hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-4) result.
 
"Baiyun's first-set losses and subsequent heroic comebacks simply remind of the old adage 'You cannot judge a fish by how well it climbs a tree'."
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will take a well-deserved break from competition before visiting No. 13 Gustavus Adolphus College at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 20.