Gustavus 9, Central 0 (Box) | Gustavus 4, UW-Whitewater 5 (Box) | Gustavus 9, Martin Luther 0 (Box)
ST. PETER, Minn. – In another busy Saturday, the Gustavus Adolphus College men’s tennis team picked up two victories and suffered a loss against a fellow nationally-ranked foe, as it defeated Central College and Martin Luther College 9-0 at the Swanson Tennis Center and fell to No. 16 UW-Whitewater 5-4 in Jackson, Wis. With the 2-1 day, the Gusties move to 10-1 overall.
The Gusties started the day with a 9-0 sweep of Central. Chase Johnson (Fy., Hopkins, Minn.), Patrick Whaling (Fy., Richmond, Va.), Mason Bultje (So., Mankato, Minn.), Taylor Parr (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.), and Colin Sandgren (Fy., Forsyth, Ill.) each picked up singles and doubles victories for Gustavus. Alex Senjem (Fy., Rochester, Minn.) and Collin Shea (Sr., Joliet, Ill.) also contributed, with Senjem earning a straight set win at No. 6 singles and Shea teaming with Sandgren for a victory at No. 3 doubles.
The Gusties also took home a sweep against Martin Luther, with Senjem, Shea, Grahamm Kellogg (So., St. Louis Park, Minn.), Alex Smith (Sr., Chanhassen, Minn.), and JJ Janssen (Sr., Edina, Minn.) each picking up singles and doubles victories. Parr handled the No. 1 singles position with a 6-1, 6-1 win, while Shea teamed with Kellogg at No. 2 doubles to round out the Gustie lineup against the Knights.
Against No. 16 UW-Whitewater, the No. 18-ranked Gusties came up just short in a 5-4 loss. The No. 11 ranked doubles team in the nation, Mohaned Alhouni (So., Tripoli, Libya) and Andres Saenz (Sr., Cancun Mexico), picked up Gustavus’s lone doubles win with an 8-4 decision over the Warhawks’ Jake Humphreys/Michael Treis at the No. 1 spot.
Down 2-1 heading into singles play, the Gusties gave it all they had and ground out a trio of three-set victories at the 1-3 spots. Alhouni defeated Humpreys 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 at No. 1, Saenz took care of Treis 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2, and Zach Ekstein (So., Eagan, Minn.) defeated Rithwik Rajshekhar Raman 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 at the third position. However, the Warhawks came up big at spots 4-6 to clinch the match, including senior Mitch Elofson’s (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.) narrow loss to Grant Thompson by a score of 0-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Gustavus will resume competition in Jackson tomorrow, with another tough regional foe in No. 34 Depauw University. That match is scheduled for 10 a.m.