ST. PETER, Minn. – The No 47-ranked Carleton College men's tennis team saw its season end with a 4-0 loss at No. 23-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College in the championship match of the MIAC Playoffs.
This was the 17th time in 19 editions of the MIAC Playoffs in its current format that the Knights (18-7) and Gusties (19-9) squared off in the championship match. Carleton upset Gustavus to win the playoff title in 2010 - the Gusties' only loss to a conference foe since the 1986 campaign.
"We came up short today, but fought like lions," said Carleton head coach
Stephan Zweifel. "I'm proud of the way the team represented Carleton all season."
Gustavus stated doubles with a 6-1 win by Dominik Knutson and Takura Mhwandagara over
Zach Leslie and
Yihe Zhang 6-1 at No. 2 doubles. Carleton's top pairing of
Akshay Garapati and
Jack Rivkin went toe-to-toe with the Gusties' nationally-ranked (No. 11) duo go Gage Gohl and Tyler Haddorff before falling 7-6 (7-5) and allowing the hosts to claim the doubles point. The Knights' paring of
Erza Bernhard and
Owen Heidtke took multiple leads at No 3 doubles before play was halted with the Gusties holding a slim 6-5 advantage.
Gustavus earned its first singles point via a 6-1, 6-1 win by Knutson, the No. 27-ranked player in the nation, over
Baiyun Jing at the second slot. Quinn Monson topped Heidtke by the same score at No. 6 singles before Luke Fridinger defeated Rivkin 6-2, 6-4 at the fifth slot to clinch the Gusties' 15th straight MIAC Playoffs crown.
At No. 1 singles, Garapati dropped the opening set to Gage Gohl, who is ranked No. 14 in the nation, by a 6-3 margin, but they were knotted 5-5 in the second set when play was stopped.
Both Leslie and Bernhard were up a set in their matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively, when the team result was determined. Leslie led 7-6 (7-2), 2-1 over Haddorff, while Bernhard held a 7-6 (10-8), 1-1 edge over Deuce Daniel.
