Men’s Tennis Team Defeats #1 UC-Santa Cruz 5-4 To Win ITA Indoor Championship

The Gustavus men’s tennis team claimed its fourth Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Men’s Indoor Championship with a thrilling 5-4 win over #1 seed and defending champion UC-Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoon. The Gusties picked up two doubles wins and three singles victories to compile the five points necessary to win the match. The tournament…

The 2008 ITA Indoor Champion Gustavus Men’s Tennis Team
The 2008 ITA Indoor Champion Gustavus Men’s Tennis Team

Gustavus #1 singles player Andy  Bryan
Gustavus #1 singles player Andy Bryan

Mike Burdakin
Mike Burdakin

The Gustavus men’s tennis team claimed its fourth Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Men’s Indoor Championship with a thrilling 5-4 win over #1 seed and defending champion UC-Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoon. The Gusties picked up two doubles wins and three singles victories to compile the five points necessary to win the match. Washington University, the #5 seed, defeated #2 seed Emory University, 7-2 to claim third place honors. The tournament was played at the Swanson Tennis Center on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College.

Gustavus jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play as Mike Burdakin and John Kauss defeated Max Liberty-Point and Ilya Gendelman 8-4 at the #2 position and Ben Tomasek and Nick Hansen defeated Max Ortiz and Colin Mark-Griffin 8-2 at the #3 position. UC-Santa Cruz claimed one doubles point when Jared Kamel and Marc Vartabedian defeated Andy Bryan and Charlie Paukert 8-4.

In singles play, John Kauss defeated Max Ortiz 6-2, 6-4 at the #2 position to give the Gusties a 3-1 lead. UC-Santa Cruz’s Colin Mark-Griffin defeated Mike Burdakin 6-4, 6-4 at the #3 position to cut the lead to 3-2. Gustavus pushed its lead back to two points at 4-2, when Andy Bryan won a gruelling two-and-a-half hour match over Jared Kamel 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 at the #1 position. The Gusties picked up the decisive fifth point when Ben Tomasek defeated Marc Vartabedian 6-1, 6-3 at the #5 position. UC-Santa Cruz battled back to win #5 and #6 singles making the final score 5-4 in favor of Gustavus.

Gustavus claims its fourth ITA Division III Team Indoor Title in the eight-year history of the tournament (2002, 2003, 2006, 2008). The other four titles have been won by UC-Santa Cruz (2001, 2007) and Emory (2004, 2005). The Gusties defeated #6 seed Trinity (7-2), in the quarterfinals, #2 seed Emory (6-3) in the semifinals, and #1 seed UC-Santa Cruz (5-4) in the championship, to claim the title.

Match Results

Tournament Website