The Gustavus men’s tennis team closed out its spring break trip to Southern California with a 7-2 loss to Azusa Pacific. Adam Morgan claimed the lone singles win for the Gusties as he defeated Boris Bakalov 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the #1 position. Gustavus posted a mark of 3-1 in four matches over spring break.
Azusa Pacific, which is rated #1 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) poll, won five singles matches and two doubles matches to best the Gusties who are rated #1 in the ITA Division III poll. The other win for Gustavus came at #2 doubles where Andy Bryan and Roy Bryan defeated Art Fatkhiev and Patrick Kur 9-7.
The final score (7-2) was deceiving as Gustavus just missed wins at #1 and #3 doubles, while also extending two singles matches (#5 – Brett Morse-Karzen, and #6 Jon Kauss) to three sets.
Coach Steve Wilkinson’s squad will return home to face MIAC rival Carleton in St. Peter on Saturday at 9:30 am. The Knights, who are 15-2 overall, are currently rated #9 in the Central Region. The Gusties will also face Morningside (9:30 am), St. Cloud State (3:00 pm), and UW-Eau Claire (6:30 pm) on Saturday. Gustavus is currently 20-4 overall and 5-0 in the MIAC.