The Gustavus Adolphus men’s tennis team opened their season with three losses in Hawai’i over the weekend. The Gusties fell to Hawai’i Pacific University 8-1 on Thursday, BYU-Hawai’i 6-3 on Friday and the University of Hawai’i 7-0 on Saturday. HPU and BYU-Hawai’i are NCAA Division II schools, while Hawai’i is a NCAA Division I school.
Hawai’i Pacific University 8, Gustavus Adolphus 1
Hawai’i Pacific University jumped out to a 2-1 lead on the Gusties following doubles play. Mike Burdakin and Charlie Paukert teamed to post an 8-5 win over Peter Raben and Mark Mestan at No. 2 doubles, while Andy Bryan and Jesse Brauer fell 8-3 to Henrik Bode and Anton Samuilau at No. 1 doubles and Nick Hansen and John Kauss dropped a 9-7 decision to Jan Hroch and Daniel Llarenas at No. 3 doubles.
The Sea Warriors swept Gustavus in singles play, although Burdakin and Paukert took each of their singles opponents to a third set. Raben downed Burdakin 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 at No. 4 singles, while Paukert fell to Llarenas 2-6, 6-3,1-0 at No. 5 singles. In other singles results, Bode defeated Bryan 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles, Samuilau defeated Brauer 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles, Mestan topped Kauss 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, and Hroch downed Hansen 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
Brigham Young University-Hawai’i 6, Gustavus Adolphus 3
The BYU-Hawai’i Seasiders swept the three doubles matches and then claimed wins in straight sets at the second, third, and fourth singles slots to carve out a 6-0 lead and claim the win. Brauer and Bryan fell to Junyoung Kim and Junichi Shimoda 8-4 at No. 1 singles, Burdakin and Paukert were topped by Tomas Hladl and Jakub Huza 8-4 at No. 2 singles, and Marvin So’onalole and Chris Rice defeated Kauss and Hansen 8-2 at No. 3 singles.
Gustavus picked up three wins in singles play led by Andy Bryan’s 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Kim at No. 1 singles. Paukert added a 6-2, 2-6, 11-9 win over Rice at No. 5 singles, and Danny Suchy posted a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 win over Shimoda at No. 6 singles, but the Seasiders picked up wins from Hladl at No. 2 singles (7-5, 6-1 over Brauer), Huza at No. 3 singles (6-4, 6-3 over Kauss), and So’onalole at No. 4 singles (6-2, 6-2 over Burdakin) to secure the win in the dual.
University of Hawai’i-Manoa 7, Gustavus Adolphus 0
The University of Hawai’i jumped out quickly, sweeping all three doubles matches to win the doubles point. At No. 1 doubles, Brauer and Bryan fell to Sascha Heienmann and Andreas Weber. At No. 2, Burdakin and David Koppel fell 8-2 to Derrick Lajola and Chad Faulk, and Hansen and Kauss were beaten 8-1 by Jeff Fitch and Brent Hunter.
UH clinched the victory by taking all six singles matches in straight sets. Bryan fell to Weber 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 1 position, while Brauer was tripped up by Heinemann 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Kauss fell to Lajola 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3 and Burdakin fell to Faulk 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. The Rainbow Warriors closed out the dual with wins by Fitch over Suchy at No. 5 singles (6-4, 6-1) and by Hunter over Hansen at No. 6 singles (6-3, 6-3).
The Gusties return to the courts Saturday, Feb. 10 with home duals against Hamline (9:30 a.m.) and UW-Eau Claire (6:30 p.m.) and a road dual at Concordia in Moorhead (5:00 p.m.).