Mohanad Al-Houni earns MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week honors for the first time this season.
Bloomington, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus freshman Mohanad Al-Houni (Fr., Tripoli, Libya) has been named the MIAC Men’s Tennis Athlete-of-the-Week for his efforts this past weekend against DePauw University and the University of Chicago. Al-Houni went a combined 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles as the Gustavus men’s tennis team defeated DePauw 8-1 on Saturday, April 18 and fell to Chicago 5-4 on Sunday, April 19.
Locking down the No. 1 singles position and playing alongside Brad Entwistle (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) at No. 2 doubles, Al-Houni’s weekend began with an 8-5 victory over Patrick Farrell and Harold Martin of DePauw on Saturday night. Al-Houni then went on to defeat Alec Kaczkowski in straight sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 for one of Gustavus’s six points in singles.
In a matchup between two of the top teams in the central region against No. 13 nationally-ranked Chicago on Sunday afternoon, Al-Houni and Entwistle cruised past Luke Tsai and Max Hawkins for one of the team’s two doubles points. In singles, the rookie squared off against Nicalas Chua, the third-ranked singles player in the region and reigning Division III Champion from the 2014 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships. Al-Houni won the first set 6-2, lost the second 6-2, and bounced back with a match-clinching 6-4 victory in the third.
Mohanad is currently the 11th-ranked player in the central region and holds a 17-5 record in singles and a 15-7 mark in doubles. Since moving into the No. 1 singles position, he is 5-2 and is currently riding a three-match win-streak.
The Gustavus men’s tennis team will put the finishing touches on its regular season schedule with a pair of MIAC matches this weekend. The Gusties will take on Carleton on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Northfield and St. Thomas on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. in St. Paul.