Release courtesy of Matt Higgins – MIAC Assistant Executive Director
St. Paul – The Gustavus men’s tennis team continued its tremendous start to the 2014 season with a pair of big nonconference wins over the weekend. Junior Motasam Al-Houni (Tripoli, Libya/International School) played a big role in the Gusties success, winning all four of his matches in straight sets in wins over regionally-ranked Chicago and UW-Whitewater. For his performance, Al-Houni was named the MIAC Men’s Tennis Athlete-of-the-Week.
Saturday, the Gusties scored a big 7-2 nonconference win over the University of Chicago, with Al-Houni winning both of his matches. He scored a 6-2, 6-2, win at No. 6 singles, and he helped Gustavus’ No. 1 doubles team earn an 8-4 win as well. He scored another 6-2, 6-2, victory at No. 6 singles Sunday in his team’s 6-2 win over UW-Whitewater, and he helped the Gusties’ top doubles team defeat the fall ITA regional champion duo from UW-W by a score of 8-2. This season, Al-Houni has yet to lose a regular-season match in singles play and has a 5-1 regular-season record in doubles play.
Thanks to their big week, the Gusties improved to 10-1 this season, and they are 2-0 in conference play as they seek their 26th-straight MIAC title. Al-Houni and his teammates will have another busy weekend coming up as Gustavus hosts Bethel, Concordia and Macalester all on Saturday in three MIAC matches. The Gusties take on the Royals at 8:45 a.m., the Cobbers at 1:30 p.m. and Macalester at 5:30 p.m.