Preview courtesy of Matt Higgins, Assistant to the Executive Director of the MIAC
The Gustavus men’s and women’s tennis teams are set to host the 2012 MIAC Playoffs this weekend in St. Peter, Minn. On the women’s side, postseason action begins Friday with No. 3 St. Olaf meeting No. 6 St. Catherine in one quarterfinal, and No. 4 Saint Benedict will take on No. 5 St. Thomas in the other, with both matches starting at noon. The semifinals and finals will both be held Saturday, with No. 1 Carleton facing the lowest remaining seed and No. 2 Gustavus taking on the highest remaining seed, both at 9 a.m.
The two semifinal winners will meet in the championship match Saturday at approximately 2:30 p.m. The winner of the 2012 MIAC Women’s Tennis Playoffs will receive the MIAC’s automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Tournament. The MIAC has a home page for the event, and Gustavus will provide live results throughout the tournament.
On the men’s side, playoff action begins Friday in St. Peter with No. 3 St. Olaf meeting No. 6 Saint John’s in one quarterfinal, and No. 4 St. Thomas will take on No. 5 Macalester in the other, with both matches starting at 3 p.m. The semifinals and finals will both be held Saturday, with No. 1 Gustavus facing the lowest remaining seed and No. 2 Carleton taking on the highest remaining seed, both at 11:30 a.m.
The two semifinal winners will meet in the championship match Saturday at approximately 4 p.m. The winner of the 2012 MIAC Men’s Tennis Playoffs will receive the MIAC’s automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Tournament. The MIAC has a home page for the event, and Gustavus will provide live results throughout the tournament.
For live stats and box scores, please follow the link below to Gustavus’ tournament website.
https://gustavus.edu/athletics/mt/archives/2012/miacplayoffs.php
Women’s Preview
For the first time in the six-year history of the MIAC Women’s Tennis Playoffs, defending tournament champion Gustavus will not be the No. 1 seed. Carleton – which was the runner-up to the Gusties both in the 2011 regular season and postseason – beat Gustavus 5-4 Sunday to claim the 2012 MIAC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the Playoffs, ending the Gusties amazing run of 20-straight conference titles.
In recent years, the Knights had closed the gap on Gustavus, leading to Sunday’s win with the MIAC regular season title on the line. Carleton had beaten Gustavus earlier this season in a nonconference match, but Sunday’s victory was even bigger as the Knights will open as the top seed and favorite at the MIAC Playoffs this weekend, May 4-5. Carleton is 16-5 overall and finished MIAC play with a perfect 10-0 record.
The Gusties will be the No. 2 seed at the tournament with a 16-8 overall record and a 9-1 mark in MIAC play. The loss Sunday was just the second MIAC setback for head coach Jon Carlson, who has a remarkable 219-2 coaching record in conference play. Though they’re the second-seed for the first time, Gustavus is still the five-time defending MIAC Playoff champion – in fact, no other team has ever won the event – and the Gusties will have home-court advantage as the tournament’s host.
St. Olaf (10-3, 7-3 MIAC) and Saint Benedict (12-7, 7-3 MIAC) tied for third place in the conference standings with identical 7-3 conference records. The Oles, by virtue of their 5-4 win over the Blazers on March 30, claimed the tournament’s No. 3 seed and CSB will be the fourth seed. St. Thomas (10-7, 6-4 MIAC) is seeded fifth and St. Catherine (12-7, 5-5 MIAC) used a win in its final regular-season match to separate itself from Concordia and Saint Mary’s to grab the sixth and final seed.
Men’s Preview
The Gustavus men’s tennis team continued an impressive dynasty, running the table to capture its 24th-straight MIAC regular season championship. The Gusties will look to add another conference title to its tremendous season this weekend as the top seed in the 2012 MIAC Men’s Tennis Playoffs.
Gustavus – which is the defending postseason champ as well and winner of four of the five MIAC Playoff titles – had another terrific regular season under head coach Tommy Valentini. The Gusties went 18-7 overall and a perfect 9-0 in MIAC play to win the championship and take the tournament’s top seed. In fact, Gustavus won all nine of its conference matches either 9-0 or 8-1. The Gusties will again be the host of the MIAC postseason tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday, May 4-5.
Carleton (20-4, 8-1 MIAC) enjoyed a 20-win regular season and defeated every MIAC opponent except Gustavus to claim second place in the conference and the tournament’s No. 2 seed. St. Olaf (14-3, 7-2 MIAC) lost just three times in the regular season and will be the Playoffs’ No. 3 seed and St. Thomas will enter the postseason seeded fourth with a 10-5 overall record and a 6-3 mark in MIAC play.
Macalester (9-10, 4-5 MIAC) and Saint John’s (6-11, 4-5 MIAC) round out the six-team postseason field. The two tied for fifth place with identical 4-5 records in conference play, with the Scots grabbing the No. 5 seed thanks to their narrow 5-4 win over the Johnnies Saturday to close out the regular season. SJU will be the tournament’s No. 6 seed.