The Gustavus men’s tennis team defeated St. Thomas 7-2 in the morning inside the Swanson Tennis Center and then moved outside in the afternoon and defeated Bethel 9-0 on the Brown Outdoor Courts. With the two league wins, the Gusties improved to 8-0 in MIAC play and clinched at least a share of the conference title with one match remaining next Saturday against St. Olaf. It is the 22nd consecutive MIAC regular season title for the Gusties.
Against St. Thomas, the Gusties handed the Tommies their first conference loss of the year by winning two-of-three doubles matches and five-of-six singles matches. In doubles play, Amrik Donkena and Tyler Johnson slipped past Brendan O’Connell and Dan Cooper 8-5 at #1 and then Krishan Jethwa and Rodrigo Otero defeated Mitch Blackey and Matt Bergstrom 8-4 at #3. In singles play, Donkena (#1),
Daniel Pomeranc (#4), Krishan Jethwa (#5), and Kyle Olson (#6) all won convincingly in straight sets, however the #2 and #3 singles matches were hotly contested. At the #2 spot, Tyler Johnson outlasted Dan Cooper by the score of 7-6 (10-9 in the tiebreaker), and 7-5. At the #3 spot, the Tommies Brendan O’Connell defeated Patrick Clark by the score of 6-3, 3-6, and 10-7 in the superbreaker. The loss was the first of the season for Clark in conference play.
Against Bethel, Gustavus claimed an early lead with three convincing wins in the doubles matches, and then closed out the match by winning all six singles matches. In singles play, Daniel Pomeranc assured the Gustie shutout with a come-from-behind win at the #4 spot. He lost the first set to Tucker Morris 1-6, but won the second set 6-2 and then claimed the superbreaker 10-8. Pomeranc improved to 8-0 in singles play against MIAC opponents.
In its eight league matches this season, Gustavus has compiled a record of 46-2 in singles play and 19-5 in doubles play.