The Gustavus men’s tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championship with an impressive 7-0 win over Carthage in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon. The Gusties will now travel to Fredericksburg, Va. to battle seven other teams for the NCAA Division III title May 17-19.
The Gusties opened the match by winning all three doubles matches in convincing fashion. Adam Morgan and Brett Morse-Karzen defeated Brad Livingston and Tommy Collins 8-5 at the #1 position. Roy Bryan and Adam Bryan followed with a 8-1 win over Dave Sands and Phil Hamood at the #2 position. Loren Collins and Jesse Brauer completed the doubles sweep with a 8-1 win over Tres Heimann/Sergio Lopez at the #3 position.
Gustavus completed the day by winning all six singles matches while dropping only one set. Loren Collins defeated Brad Livingston 6-1, 7-5 at #1 and then Adam Morgan defeated Tommy Collins 6-0, 6-2 at the #2 position. Jesse Brauer pushed the score to 4-0 when he defeated Dave Sands 6-1, 6-2 at the #3 spot. The Gusties completed the sweep with Andy Bryan defeating Tres Heimann 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 at #4, Roy Bryan defeating Sergio Lopez 6-1, 7-6 (2) at #5, and Brett Morse-Karzen defeating Phil Hamood 6-4, 6-3 at #6.
Coach Steve Wilkinson’s squad improved to 33-4 overall, including a 25-0 mark against Division III opponents this season. The Gusties have won 19 of their last 20 matches with their only loss coming to Azusa Pacific which is rated #1 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) poll.
Gustavus will be making its seventh consecutive appearance in the national quarterfinals. Wilkinson’s squad has finished in the top four six of the past seven years including a second place finish in 2000, a fourth place finish in 2001, third place finishes in 2002 and 2003, a tie for fifth place in 2004, and a fourth place finish last year.
The Gusties will be joined in quarterfinals by DePauw (Ind.), Swarthmore (Pa.), Williams (Mass.), Emory (Ga.), Middlebury (Vt.), Trinity (Texas), and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.).