ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Carleton College men's tennis remained undefeated in conference play after posting a 7-0 victory at Bethel University.
The Royals (14-2, 2-2 MIAC) entered the day riding an 11-match win streak, but Carleton (14-4, 6-0 MIAC) benefitted from a come-from-behind victory at No. 2 doubles to spark the Knights to the road triumph.
"I was very impressed with how we raised our game against a top team in the conference," said Carleton head coach
Stephan Zweifel. "Although it is tough to read the label when you are inside the bottle, I can attest to the big improvement of our squad during this season."
The Knights started the day with a 6-1 victory by
Ezra Bernhard and
Owen Heidtke at No. 3 doubles. Bethel countered with a 6-2 win at the top spot.
Zach Leslie and
Yihe Zhang rallied for a 7-5 triumph at No. 2 doubles to earn the doubles team point for the visitors.
Carleton won 5 of the 6 singles matches in straight sets before
Akshay Garapati prevailed 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) at No. 1 singles to conclude the match.
Baiyun Jing notched a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles, with Leslie adding a 6-1, 6-2 victory at the third slot. Bernhard chipped in a 6-4, 6-0 triumph at No. 4 singles, with
Jack Rivkin securing a 6-2, 6-4 result at the fifth slot and Heitdke notching a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton heads to Iowa this weekend for a pair of non-conference matches. The Knights play at Coe College 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 11 followed by a 2:30 p.m. match the next day at Luther College.
