CLEVELAND, Ohio – For the second consecutive season, the Gustavus men’s tennis team will compete for the consolation title at the ITA Indoor Championship. The No. 8 Gusties on Saturday defeated No. 13 Whitman 7-2 in the consolation semifinals, which was a rematch of last season’s NCAA region championship that Whitman won 5-4 in Saint Peter. The Gusties are now 5-2 overall and will face the winner of Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
“The guys put together an outstanding effort today,” Head Coach Tommy Valentini said. “To bounce back from last night’s tough loss with such a positive effort took a lot of character. We played with great energy in the doubles. Whaling and Johnson were excellent to get us going and Derbani and Aney showed great poise to get us the lead. In the singles we got great all around performances from Derbani and Johnson. They were positive and aggressive and set the tone for everyone. From there, Mike O’Neil stepped up in a big way to clinch for us. He was composed and tough and trusted his game beautifully. We also got a great overall match from Aney, and Neel Raut came through in the clutch to win 7-6 in the third. We’re grateful that the result matched up with the way we competed. We have another fun challenge ahead of us tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to competing and enjoying the moment.”
Singles
- Kirsh, Ben (WC-M) def. Patrick Whaling (GACM) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Chase Johnson (GACM) def. Foster, Daniel (WC-M) 6-4, 6-0
- Yassine Derbani (GACM) def. Rapoport, Adam (WC-M) 6-2, 6-0
- Michael O’Neil (GACM) def. Hwang, Alex (WC-M) 6-3, 6-2
- Nick Aney (GACM) def. Mueller-Immergluck,A (WC-M) 6-4, 6-1
- Indraneel Raut (GACM) def. Chikkalingaiah, Raj (WC-M) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Doubles
- Patrick Whaling/Chase Johnson (GACM) def. Foster, Daniel/Kirsh, Ben (WC-M) 8-2
- Yassine Derbani/Nick Aney (GACM) def. Mueller-Immergluck,A/Hwang, Alex (WC-M) 8-5
- Chikkalingaiah, Raj/Rapoport, Adam (WC-M) def. Michael O’Neil/Joel Hug (GACM) 8-4