(Release courtesy of Matt Higgins, MIAC Assistant Executive Director)
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College men’s tennis team came up with another decisive win in MIAC play Saturday to continue its perfect start to the 2016 season. Sophomore Zach Ekstein (Eagan, Minn.) turned in a near-perfect performance with wins at No. 2 doubles and No. 3 singles to lead the Gusties to an 8-1 conference win over St. Thomas. For his performance, the MIAC sports information directors honored Ekstein Tuesday with the MIAC Men’s Tennis Athlete-of-the-Week award.
Ekstein dropped just two games the entire match as he nearly pulled off a perfect sweep against his UST foes Saturday. He was a 6-1, 6-0, winner at No. 3 singles, and he helped Gustavus gain an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles en route to the 8-1 victory. The two wins helped Ekstein remain unbeaten in 2016, as he improved to 8-0 overall – 4-0 in singles play and 4-0 in doubles play.
Thanks to the win, Gustavus has now won five-straight overall to open the 2016 campaign with a 5-0 record, and the team is 3-0 in conference play. The Gusties are one of just four teams yet to suffer a MIAC loss as the team seeks its 28th-straight conference title. Ekstein and company have another big day coming up with a trio of matches on Saturday. Gustavus will host Bethel (9:30 a.m.) and Concordia (2 p.m.) in conference play before squaring off against Morningside (7:30 p.m.) in a nonconference match.