The Gustavus men’s tennis team defeated #2 seed and defending champion Emory
University 6-1 at the Swanson Tennis Center on Saturday to advance to the
finals of the ITA Division III Indoor Tennis Championship. The Gusties will
play #1 seed UC-Santa Cruz, which defeated #5 seed Kalamazoo 5-2 in the other
semifinal match. The Gustavus vs. UC-Santa Cruz final will begin at 9:00 am
Sunday morning.
The Gusties and Eagles locked up in a classic battle that lasted over five and a
half hours. The final score showed Gustavus winning 6-1, however all three
doubles matches and all six singles matches were hotly contested. All six
singles matches went to a third set and one doubles match was decided by a
tiebreaker.
In doubles play, the Gusties struck first as Adam Morgan and Brett Morse-Karzen
won at #1 singles 8-4. Gustavus locked up the doubles point when Loren Collins
and Jesse Brauer defeated Mark Boren/Yoji Masuoka 9-8 (7-1 in the tiebreaker).
The #2 doubles match was stopped when the doubles point was won however, the
match was tied 8-8 and was heading towardds a tiebreaker.
In singles play, Gustavus claimed three set victories at the #1, #2, and #3
positions. Loren Collins defeated Michael Goodwin 6-0, 1-6, 6-1 at #1, and
then Adam Morgan slipped past Yoji Masuoka 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 at the #2 position.
Jesse Brauer clinched the match for the Gusties when he defeated Patrick
Redmond 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at the #3 position. The battle continued even though
Gustavus had scored the decisive fourth point. Andy Bryan defeated Mark Boren
6-3, 5-7, 6-4 at #4. The #5 singles match turned out the be the most exciting
of the match as Jesse Ferlianto of Emory outlasted Roy Bryan 5-7, 6-3, 15-13. The #5 and #6
singles matches used a third set superbreaker due to time restrictions. The
Gusties closed out the evening with Brett Morse-Karzen defeating Hardy Ehlers
5-7, 6-4, 10-5 at the #6 position.