The Johnnie tennis team begins conference play at No. 28 Gustavus Adolphus this Saturday, Feb. 19. The match is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in St. Peter. SJU then returns home to host St. Thomas for a 4:30 p.m. match Sunday at Gold's Gym in Sartell. 

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's won five of its six tie-breakers to defeat St. Scholastica 7-2 in its season opener two weeks ago in Sartell. Sophomore Fabricio Moncada (Managua, Nicaragua/Lincoln International Academy) registered a hard-fought win at No. 1 singles. He won the first set 6-4, but dropped the second (6-3) before winning the tie-breaker by a high-scoring 17-15 margin. Junior Ian Hansen (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) and senior Elliott Elm (Eagan, Minn./Holy Angels) posted back-to-back straight-set wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Junior Justin LaBeaux (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) lost his match at No. 4 singles via the tie-breaker (6-2, 4-6, 7-10), but SJU earned wins at the final two singles matches with a pair of freshmen. Connor Rust (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) and Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels) earned their first collegiate wins with the tie-breaker. Hansen and Moncada teamed up to earn a close 9-8 (7-4) win at No. 1 doubles, while Elm and sophomore Zach Shriwise (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) followed suit with a 9-8 (7-2) decision as No. 2. St. Scholastica earned its second and final match win with an 8-5 victory at No. 3 doubles.

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus opened its 2011 home schedule with convincing wins over Hamline (9-0) and MSU-Mankato (9-0) last Saturday. Against Hamline, the match of the day turned out to be at No. 1 singles, where Amrik Donkena locked up in a tight match with David Croonquist.  Donkena won the first set 6-2 and led 5-4 in the second set before Croonquist rallied to claim the second set 7-6 winning the tiebreaker 7-5.  Donkena won the third set superbreaker 10-7 to claim the win.  The Gusties won the other five singles matches in straight sets including Patrick Clark at No. 2 (6-1, 7-5), Tyler Johnson at No. 3 (6-2, 6-2), Juan Luis Chu at No. 4 (6-0, 6-1), Daniel Pomeranc at No. 5 (6-0, 6-0), and Joe MacGibbon at No. 6 (6-0, 6-0). Gustavus also claimed all three doubles matches to post the 9-0 victory. Against MSU-Mankato, the Gusties opened the match with three doubles victories including Amrik Donkena and Patrick Clark posting an 8-5 win at No. 1, followed by Tyler Johnson and Joe MacGibbon winning 8-2 at No. 2, and Daniel Pomeranc and Juan Luis Chu claiming an 8-2 win at No. 3. The Gusties closed out the match with three straight victories by Michael Lieberman, Logan Peterson, and Sean Golden. 

A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas won its debut match in the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex with a 5-4 victory over Wisconsin-La Crosse Feb. 5. St. Thomas, which played without three top players due to injuries and a family emergency, managed to sweep the doubles with close victories and won at Nos. 5-6 singles. Kevin Walker and Peter Wright won in singles and doubles for the Tommies. The following weekend, the Tommie men's tennis team moved to 2-0 on the season with Sunday's 9-0 home victory over St. Cloud State in St. Paul. Peter Wright and Kevin Walker remained unbeaten on the season in singles. Brian McCarthy and Andy Michels moved to 2-0 at first doubles.

THE LAST MEETINGS: The last time the Johnnies and Gusties met, Gustavus Adolphus swept all six singles matches leading to an 8-1 win over SJU. The tandem of Elm and Shriwise earned the lone victory for SJU at No. 3 doubles, 9-8 (7-5).

Last season, St. Thomas defeated SJU 7-2 in Minneapolis. The Johnnies picked up wins from Moncada and Dutch Hansen '10 at Nos. 1 (6-3, 6-3) and 2 (6-4, 6-3) singles, respectively. Ian Hansen and Luke Odegaard '10 dropped singles matches via the super-breaker. Elm, meanwhile, won his first set 6-3 and was ahead 3-2 in the second before retiring at No. 4 singles due to injury.