ST. PETER, Minn. – The Carleton College men's tennis team absorbed its first conference loss of the season, falling 6-1 at No. 23-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College.
"We ran into a very formidable opponent today, but you don't build character in comfort," said Carleton head coach
Stephan Zweifel. "We learned a lot and are looking forward to the potential opportunity to have a rematch in the conference tournament."
The Gusties (14-9, 7-0 MIAC) now have the inside track to the No. 1 seed in the five-team MIAC Playoffs that begin at the end of the month. Carleton (16-6, 7-1 MIAC) is likely to be the No. 2 seed.
Ezra Bernhard delivered Carleton's team point as he notched a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4 singles. It was his team-high 17th win of the season.
Gustavus swept the doubles contests, including a 6-2 triumph at the top position in a battle of nationally-ranked duos. Gage Gohl and Tyler Haddorff—the No. 5-ranked tandem in the nation—avenged a loss to the Knights' No. 16-ranked pairing of
Akshay Garapati and
Jack Rivkin during last year's conference tournament. The Gusties also prevailed 6-0 at the third slot and rallied from a 5-3 deficit to win 7-5 at the second spot.
The Knights were unable to rally in singles as the hosts' lineup featured a trio of nationally-ranked players. Garapati, ranked No. 34 in the country, lost to No. 4-ranked Gohl 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) at the top spot.
No. 15-ranked Dominik Knutson 6-1, 6-4 topped
Baiyun Jing at the second slot, and No. 40-ranked Haddorff bested 6-2, 6-3 over
Zach Leslie at the third spot.
Luke Fridinger added a 6-2, 6-1 victory over
Jack Rivkin at No. 5 singles, and Quinn Monson notched a 6-1, 6-1 result against
Owen Heidtke at the sixth slot.
Up next for the Knights
Carleton closes the regular season with a trip to Saint John's University on Sunday, April 26 for a 1:00 p.m. match. That will be the Knights' final tune-up before the MIAC Playoffs.
