The Gustavus men’s tennis team picked up a pair of 9-0 wins over Minnesota State, Mankato and Hamline University on Friday at the Swanson Tennis Center. The Gusties played well in dropping only one set in the two matches. Coach Tommy Valentini’s squad improves to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the MIAC. The Gusties will host conference foes Concordia (noon) and Macalester (5 pm) next Saturday, March 6.
Against MSU, Mankato, the Gusties won all three doubles matches but were challenged at the #2 and #3 positions as Patrick Clark and Kyle Olson defeated Cole Jensen and Mitch Barr 8-6 at #2 and Krishan Jethwa and Rodrigo Otero slipped past Adam Doll and Chad Berger 9-7. In singles play, Gustavus won the #1 through #5 singles matches in straight sets and then freshman Connor Illies, playing his first collegiate match at #6 rallied to defeat Mike Lindaman 4-6, 6-3, and 10-4 in the super tiebreaker.
Against Hamline, the Gusties again got off to a 3-0 start by sweeping the doubles matches. Amrik Donkena and Tyler Johnson claimed a convincing 8-2 win at the #1 position over David Croonquist and Robert Becker. In singles play, Gustavus claimed all six matches in straight sets. Kyle Olson stepped in at the #6 position and defeated Sam Teitelbaum 6-0, 6-1.