Claremont, Calif. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s tennis team went 1-2 at the Stag-Hen Invitational hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer on Friday and Saturday. The Gusties suffered a pair of losses to nationally-ranked competition on Friday, then rebounded with a win on Saturday to finish the tournament. The Gusties fell to No. 7 Emory University 6-3 and No. 11 Carnegie Mellon University 6-3 on Friday before picking up a 6-3 victory over Swarthmore College on Saturday. Gustavus is now 14-3 overall and will return home to Minnesota where it will take part in three matches before heading to the Boston, Mass. area for its spring break training trip.
The Gusties jumped out to a 2-1 lead on Emory following doubles. Motasam Al-Houni (Jr., Tripoli, Libya) and Mya Smith-Dennis (Sr., Savage, Minn.) defeated Alex Ruderman and Ian Wagner 8-2 at No. 1 doubles, and Juan Luis Chu (Sr., Lima, Peru) and Joey MacGibbon (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) topped Jackson Isaacs and Rocco English 8-3 at No 2.
Emory responded big in singles with five of the six points. Gustavus’s lone point was scored by Chu who defeated Rafe Mosetick 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 3 position.
Emory 6 def. Gustavus 3 | Box Score
In Gustavus’s match against Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, the club once again earned two points in doubles yet couldn’t score more than a point in singles play. Al-Houni and Smith-Dennis earned their second win of the day at No. 1 by defeating Will Duncan and C. Heaney-Secord 8-2. Marcel Gyswyt (Sr., Golden Valley, Minn.) and Andres Saenz (Fr., Cancun, Mexico) beat Kiril Kirkov and Paul Okuda 8-4 at No. 3 for the second point.
Juan Luis Chu was the lone point-scorer in singles for the second match in a row, this time defeating Will Duncan in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Carnegie Mellon 6 def. Gustavus 3 | Box Score
In Saturday’s contest against Swarthmore, Gustavus turned things around with two points in doubles and four points in singles. Chu and MacGibbon defeated Anthony Collard and Thomas Vernier 8-6 at No. 2, and Saenz and Gyswyt beat Christian Carcione and Dan Park 8-6 at No. 3.
In singles play, the Gusties benefited from the wins of Smith Dennis over Collard 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 at No. 1, Grant Leisner over Preston Poon 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3, MacGibbon over John Larkin 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4, and Al-Houni over Dan Park 7-6, 6-3 at No. 6.
Gustavus 6 def. Swarthmore 3 | Box Score
Gustavus will be back in action on Saturday, March 22 when it takes part in three matches. The Gusties will face Coe at 12:00 p.m. in St. Peter, and Saint John’s at 12:00 p.m. and St. Cloud State at 5:00 p.m. in Sartell.