Sophomore Mohaned Alhouni placed fourth at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships.
SUMTER, S.C. – Gustavus Adolphus men’s tennis player Mohaned Alhouni (So., Tripoli, Libya) took fourth place at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships at the Palmetto Tennis Center, which concluded Saturday morning. Alhouni fell to No. 1 seed Skyler Butts of Claremont Mudd Scripps 6-1, 6-3 in the tournament’s third place match.
“Coming into my match against Skyler, I knew I had nothing to lose,” said Alhouni. “I thought I played great tennis, but he was able to control the court better and was more aggressive as well. I had some knee pain throughout the match, but that was something outside of my control, and Skyler was playing incredible tennis, so there was nothing I was able to do about those two things other than to play as hard as I could, which I feel I did.”
Saturday’s third place match came after Alhouni earned a first round victory over Carnegie Mellon’s Abhishek Alla, the tournament’s No. 3 seed 6-1, 7-5 on Thursday. Alhouni then took on Noah Farrell of Middlebury College in yesterday’s semifinal and fell 6-4, 7-6 (5).
“This tournament really helped me build confidence in my game and made me realize I can play with these top guys,” said Alhouni. “I am proud of how I played this week and am grateful for the opportunity to have represented Gustavus, but I am not satisfied. I am already so excited for the spring season and to accomplish great goals with the team.”