The Gustavus Adolphus men’s tennis team improved to 7-3 overall Saturday with dual wins over South Dakota State (9-0), Minneosta State Mankato (8-1), Macalester (9-0) and Duquesne (6-3). Andy Bryan (Jr., Edina, Minn.), Jesse Brauer (Sr., Mankato, Minn./West), and Mike Burdakin (So., Bettendorf, Iowa) each went 4-0 on the day with two singles wins and two doubles wins. Ben Tomasek (So., Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul) and John Kauss (So., St. Paul, Minn./Harding) were each 3-1.
Gustavus Adolphus 9, South Dakota State 0The Gusties failed to drop a set in opening the day with a 9-0 sweep of South Dakota State. Bryan and Brauer defeated Corey Paluch and Steve Grantz 8-1 at No. 1 doubles, Burdakin and Tomasek defeated Jeff Hughes and Kyle Warner 8-2 at No. 2 doubles, and Alex Horton (Jr., Newport, Wales, U.K./Winnetka New Trier [Ill.]) and Will Butzlaff (Sr., Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) topped Dusty Antoine and Matt Gill 8-4 at No. 3 doubles.
In singles play, Bryan defeated Paluch 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, Brauer defeated Grantz 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2, Burdakin defeated Hughes 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3, Tomasek topped Antoine 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4, Horton shut out Warner 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5, and Butzlaff squeezed past Gill 7-6 (5), 6-2 at No. 6.
Gustavus Adolphus 8, Minnesota State Mankato 1
Facing Minnesota State Mankato in the second match of the day, the Gusties swept the doubles matches. Kauss and Nick Hansen (Fr., Duluth, Minn./East) defeated Drew Stein and Ryan Fredrickson 8-1 at No. 1, Dan Suchy (Sr., La Crosse, Wis./Central) and David Koppel (So., Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) topped Mitch Johnson and John Julian 8-2 at No. 2, and Brian Laumeyer (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.) and Ryan Dunn (Fr., Fond du Lac, Wis.) downed Bryan Hoff and Jake Ruzsa 8-3 at No. 3.
Kauss defeated Stein and Laumeyer topped Adam Doll by identical 6-0, 6-1 scores at No. 1 and No. 6 singles, while Suchy swept Fredrickson 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles. Hansen downed Johnson 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 and Koppel bested Julian 7-5, 6-2 at No. 4. MSU Mankato picked up their lone win of the dual at No. 5 singles where Hoff defeated Theo Roth (So., Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert) 0-6, 6-4, 11-9.
Gustavus Adolphus 9, Macalester 0
Part of the Gustavus team was sent to St. Paul for a midday MIAC dual with Macalester. As with South Dakota State, the Gusties did not drop a set against the Scots. Claudio Bravo (Sr., Tucson, Ariz./Rincon) and Ashok Jethwa (So., Minot, N.D.) at No. 1 doubles and Griffin Foley (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn./Mahtomedi) and Aaron Zenner (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) at No. 2 doubles picked up identical 8-2 victories, while Kyle Olson (Fr., Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) and Krishan Jethwa (Fr., Minot, N.D.) eked out a 9-8(5) victory over Andy Kessel and Reed Larson.
Zenner downed Brad Golstein 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 singles, Bravo topped Aaron Heerboth 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2, Foley defeated Titus Levy 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3, Ashok Jethwa downed Kessel 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4, Olson defeated Tobin Kaufman-Osborn 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5, and Krishan Jethwa topped Reed Larson 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
Gustavus Adolphus 6, Duquesne 3
The Gusties closed out the day with a 6-3 win over Division I Duquesne. Gustavus opened with wins in two of the three doubles matches, led by an 8-3 win by Brauer and Bryan over Adam Townsend and Blake Williams at No. 1 doubles. Burdakin and Tomasek added an 8-5 win over Jeremy McClelland and Mark Maciuch at No. 2, while the Dukes salvaged a win at No. 3 doubles as Michael Ortega and Ryan Weisband topped Kauss and Hansen by an 8-5 score.
Gustavus picked up straight-set wins at each of the top four singles positions as Bryan defeated Paul Clough 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1, Brauer topped Ortega 6-3, 7-5 at No. 2, Kauss downed Townsent 6-0, 6-3 at No. 3, and Burdakin dispatched McClelland 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4. Duquesne closed out the dual with three-set victories at both No. 5 and No. 6 singles. At No. 5, Maciuch took the first set, dropped the second to Tomasek, and prevailed in the third, all by identical 6-3 scores. At No. 6, Gustavo Villares won the first set 6-3, while Dan Suchy won the second 6-4. Villares closed out the match and the dual with a 6-4 win in the final set.
Gustavus (7-3 overall; 3-0 MIAC) welcomes seven of the top programs in NCAA Division III to the Swanson Tennis Center next weekend (Friday-Sunday, Feb. 23-25) as they host the 2007 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III National Team Indoor Championships. The Gusties are the defending champions of the event.