OWATONNA, Minn. – The No. 46-ranked Carleton College men's tennis team advanced to the championship match of the MIAC Playoffs after defeating Bethel University 4-0 in the semifinals. The contest was moved indoors due to the threat of rain in the area.
The Knights (17-3) will now face No. 31 Gustavus Adolphus College (18-11) in the MIAC Men's Tennis Playoff Championship for the ninth time in the last ten conference tournaments and the 15th time since 2007.
In defeating Bethel for the second time this season, Carleton won two of the three doubles matches to claim the doubles point.
Zach Leslie and
Baiyun Jing defeated Dylan Magistad and Zach Chaffey by a 6-3 margin at No. 2 doubles moments before rookies
Aidan Patel and
Ezra Bernhard won by the same score against Zachary Bengston and Robert Seaton at No. 3 doubles.
Jack Rivkin and
Akshay Garapati led 5-4 at No. 1 doubles when that match was halted due to the Knights having already secured the doubles team point.
In singles, Leslie gave Carleton a 2-0 lead with his 6-3, 6-0 triumph over Chaffey at the third slot. Patel inched the Knights closer to the team victory after claiming the No. 2 singles match against Magistad by a 6-0, 6-3 tally.
Rivkin clinched the 4-0 Carleton victory with his 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 triumph over Ryan Reid at No. 5 singles.
After dropping the opening set against Watson Sheard at No. 4 singles, Bernhard had leveled his match 2-6, 6-4 when play was halted. The Knights'
Andrew Sretavan was up a set at 6-1, 4-5 in the No. 6 singles match against Bengston, while Bethel's Carter Sheard led Jing 7-5, 0-2 atop the lineup.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton travels to St. Peter, Minn., to face top seed Gustavus Adolphus College in the finals on Saturday, May 3. The Knights upset the Gusties to win the playoff title in 2010, the only loss by Gustavus to a conference foe since the 1986 campaign.
Start time of that contest will be determined by the results of the MIAC Women's Tennis semifinal matches on Friday. If Gustavus hosts both the men's and women's championship matches on Saturday, then men's match will be played at 11:30 a.m. If the Gusties only host the men's match, then the 2025 MIAC Men's Tennis Playoff Championship will be played at 1:00 p.m.
