The Gustavus men’s tennis team improved to 17-2 on the season with a hard-fought 6-3 win over Southwest Baptist University of Bolivar, Missouri at the Swanson Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon. The Gusties jumped out to a 3-0 lead after doubles play and then won three of the six singles matches to claim the 6-3 victory. Gustavus is currently ranked #1 in the ITA Division III poll, while Southwest Baptist, which fell to 4-2 on the season, is ranked #23 in the ITA Division II poll.
Coach Steve Wilkinson and his squad will leave Friday afternoon for Southern California for matches against Pomona-Pitzer (3/25), #7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (3/26), #11 Redlands (3/27), and NAIA #2 Azusa Pacific (3/28) during spring break.
Against Southwest Baptist, the Gusties won all three doubles matches. The big win was at #1 where Andy Bryan and Charlie Paukert, who are ranked #4 in Division III, defeated Daniel Prerad and Emilio El Alabi, who are ranked #22 in Division II, 8-4. Bryan and Paukert are now 17-3 on the season. John Kauss and Mike Burdakin won 8-4 at #2 and Ben Tomasek and Nick Hanson won 8-1 at #3.
In singles play, Andy Bryan won at #1, John Kauss won at #2, and Aaron Zenner won at #6. Bryan, who is ranked #2 in Division III, picked up a big win against Alex Kacamakis, who is ranked #23 in Division II, 6-4, 6-2. Bryan is now 20-3 on the season.