The Gustavus mens' tennis team suffered a pair of hard-fought losses on the final day of the ITA Indoor Championship on Saturday.
St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolpus men’s tennis team capped off the 2015 ITA National Indoor Championship with a pair of gut-wrenching losses to No. 8 Case Western Reserve University and No. 9 Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday at the Swanson Tennis Center. The Gusties fell 5-4 to Case Western Reserve in their consolation semifinal match before suffering a 5-4 defeat at the hands of Carnegie Mellon in the seventh place match to finish the weekend. Gustavus comes out of this year’s ITA Indoor Championship with a record of 3-5 overall.
“I was impressed with how our guys competed and handled themselves throughout what was a long and grueling day of tennis,” said head coach Tommy Valentini. “It’s the first time for all these guys in their current roles going against nationally ranked competition. I thought they all handled the pressure and high level of competition with poise. Although it’s tough to come out on the short end of a couple of hard-fought matches, the hope is that we come out of this weekend a more grown up, more experienced team. From our veterans to our newcomers, I’m proud of the effort and hope this weekend can be a great step forward for the team.”
The day began with Gustavus sweeping the doubles competition against Case Western Reserve. Motasem Al-Houni and Andres Saenz won 9-4 at No. 1, Brad Entwistle and Mohanad Al-Houni won 9-7 at No. 2, and Mitch Elofson and T. Connor Shives won 8-6 at No. 3.
Despite the early deficit, the Spartans didn’t go away quietly, winning five of the six singles points at the No. 1 through 5 positions to take the match. A three set win by Louis Stuerke over Anres Saenz at the No. 4 turned out to be the winning point for Case Western Reserve.
Case Western Reserve 5 def. Gustavus 4 | Box Score
In the nightcap against Carnegie Mellon, Gustavus took a 2-1 lead into singles thanks to doubles wins by Saenz and Motasem Al-Houni at No. 1, and Shives and Elofson at No. 3.
Carnegie Mellon swung the score in its favor 4-2 with consecutive singles wins by Kunal Wadwani at No. 5, C. Heaney-Secord at No. 2, and Abhishek Alla at No. 1.
Gustavus answered with a win by Mohanad Al-Houni at the No. 3 to cut the team score to 4-3, but the Tartens sealed the match with the decisive fifth point earned by Tommy Cheng at No. 6. Saenz brought the score to a final with a three set victory at No. 4
Carnegie Mellon 5 def. Gustavus 4 | Box Score
The Gustavus men’s tennis team will get back into regional completion next weekend with two home matches on Saturday, Feb. 28. The Gusties will open MIAC play against Bethel at 10:30 a.m. and will then complete the weekend against Grinnell later in the day at 5:30 p.m.