The Gustavus men’s tennis team extended its match winning streak to five matches when it defeated Division II institution Montana State University-Billings 9-0 on Thursday at the Swanson Tennis Center. The Gusties played two tiebreakers during the contest, but failed to drop a set as they improved to 8-3 overall. Gustavus will compete against Morningside, Bethel, St. Olaf, and Grinnell on Saturday.
The Gusties claimed all three doubles points as Kevin Stickney and Nick Hansen defeated Travis Lehman and Luis Olivera 8-2 at the #1 spot, Ben Tomasek and David Koppel defeated Delbert Landicho and Geoff Fehr 8-3 at the #2 position, and Eric Ice andKrishan Jethwa defeated Stephen Gruener and Franco Valdez 8-3.
Gustavus completed the sweep by winning each singles match. The closest matches occurred at #1 and #4 singles. Charlie Paukert won his first set over Franco Valdez 6-4, but needed a second set tiebreaker to seal the match as Paukert prevailed 7-6 (7-5) at the #1 position. At the #4 spot, Patrick Clark scratched out a first set win over Delbert Landicho by winning a tiebreaker 9-7 to take the set 7-6. Clark raised his level of play in the second set as he defeated Landicho 6-0 in the second set.
The Gusties will host Morningside, St. Olaf, and Grinnell at Swanson Tennis Center on Saturday, while also facing Bethel in Arden Hills on the same day.
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