JACKSON, Wis. – For the second time in as many days, the Gustavus Adolphus College men’s tennis team took on a nationally-ranked opponent. However, on Sunday the result was a different one, as the Gusties defeated No. 34 DePauw University 7-2 at Pleasant Valley Tennis Club. The win came less than 24 hours after No. 18 Gustavus fell to No. 16 UW-Whitewater in a tough 5-4 defeat and moved the Gusties’ overall record to 11-1.
“I’m very proud of how the guys bounced back today,” said Coach Tommy Valentini. “We had a long, tough match with a strong Whitewater team last night, and on a quick turnaround against a deep group from DePauw, our guys were ready to play and competed hard. If we continue to build on this weekend we can make some great progress.”
Gustavus got back to its regularly strong doubles play on Sunday, as it swept the Tigers in each of the three doubles matches, with Mohaned Alhouni (So., Tripoli, Libya)/Andres Saenz (Sr., Cancun, Mexico) winning 8-2 at No. 1, Tommy Entwistle (So., Sioux Falls, S.D.)/Zach Ekstein (So., Eagan, Minn.) earning an 8-5 victory at No. 2, and Mitch Elofson (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.)/David Hagberg (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) taking an 8-6 win at No. 3.
In singles, Saenz, Ekstein, Entwistle, and Gabe Steinwand (So., Moorhead, Minn.) each earned straight set wins at the No. 2, 3, 5, and 6 spots, respectively. Alhouni earned a 6-0 win in his first set at No. 1 singles against Dan Redefeld, but dropped the second 7-6, and suffered the narrow defeat after falling 10-5 in the superbreaker.
Gustavus next competes in California in the Stag-Hen Invite at Claremont-Mudd Scripps on Friday through Saturday. The Gusties’ first round opponent is No. 11 Pomona-Pitzer which they face on Friday at 9 a.m.