The SJU tennis team begins MIAC play against Gustavus Adolphus this Saturday, Feb. 11. The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Gold's Gym in Sartell. The Johnnies then travel to face St. Scholastica for a noon tilt on Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Arrowhead Tennis Center in Duluth.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (0-2, 0-0 MIAC) opened its 2012 tennis season with a pair of losses to non-NCAA Division III schools last Saturday at Gold's Gym. The Johnnies started the day with a tough 5-4 loss to Division I South Dakota State before falling 7-2 to Division II St. Cloud State in the nightcap. Ian Hansen (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) started his senior campaign with a pair of wins at No. 1 singles for SJU, including a straight-set victory (6-2, 6-2) against the Jackrabbits. SJU claimed two of the three doubles matches in the narrow loss to SDSU. Sophomores Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels) and Connor Rust (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) won a 9-8 decision at No. 2, thanks to a 7-4 victory in the breaker, while junior Willie Paul (Duluth, Minn./Marshall) and freshman Anh Doan (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) earned an 8-2 win at No. 3. Doan tallied his first collegiate victory in singles competition at No. 6 (6-0, 6-2). Hansen won his second match of the day via the super-breaker over St. Cloud State's Joao Orsi (6-3, 4-6, 10-4). Laue followed his tough loss in the super-breaker against SDSU with a shortened 8-6 win versus the Huskies. The Johnnies played without its regular starter at No. 1 singles, junior Fabricio Moncada (Managua, Nicaragua/Lincoln International Academy), who is ranked fourth in the Central region and No. 21 nationally in the ITA Preseason Rankings.

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus (0-2, 0-0 MIAC) opened its 2012 season with a pair of losses against NCAA Division II opponents, Hawaii Pacific and BYU-Hawaii, Feb. 2-3 in Hawaii. No. 22 Hawaii Pacific won five of six singles and swept doubles to defeat the Gusties 8-1 in the season opener. Sophomore Mya Smith-Dennis recorded Gustavus' only win of the match, defeating Georgi Yordanov in three sets 6-4, 4-6, and 10-8 in the super-breaker. The Gusties battled from start to finish in their afternoon match against No. 25 BYU-Hawaii. The Seasiders picked up a pair of doubles wins and three of the six singles wins to come away with a 5-4 victory. Picking up victories in singles for Gustavus were Mya Smith-Dennis, Marcel Gyswyt, and Joey MacGibbon.  Smith-Dennis edged Martin Chojnacki in three sets 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), and 6-3 at No. 2 singles.  Gysyt topped Christian Noot 7-6 (4), 6-3 at No. 4, and MacGibbon won a three-set battle over Isaac Hadley 3-6, 6-4, and 6-4 at No. 5. Gyswyt and Bradley Entwistle defeated Noot and Hadley 8-4 at No. 3 to give Gustavus its only win in the doubles competition. GAC travels to face Hamline at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning before making the trip north to Sartell for Saturday's match with SJU.

LAST YEAR'S MEETING: Then-No. 28 Gustavus cruised through all six singles matches en route to an 8-1 win over SJU last Feb. 19 in St. Peter. Hansen and Moncada teamed up to earn the lone win for SJU at No. 1 doubles, 8-5.

A LOOK AT THE SAINTS: St. Scholastica started its season with a 7-2 win over Concordia-Moorhead last Saturday in Duluth. The Saints got off to a good start with a sweep of all three doubles matches. The No. 1 team of Jacob Engelstad and Brian Lindberg won 8-4. The freshman tandem at the No. 2 spot, James Mack and Tyler Bates, earned an 8-6 victory before the No. 3 team of Kevin Hilpert and Cullen Combs won with an 8-4 decision. Engelstad cruised in the first set and the rallied to close the match in straight sets at No. 1 singles 6-1, 7-6 (7-1). Mack was also victorious at No. 3 singles with a 6-4, 6-0 triumph. Nick Lambrecht pulled out a win in a super-breaker at the No. 5 spot by scores of 6-2, 3-6, (10-8). The final win of the day came from Kolin Dean at No. 6 singles (6-1, 6-4).

LAST YEAR'S MEETING: Saint John's won five of its six tie-breakers to defeat St. Scholastica 7-2 in the Johnnies' 2011 season opener. Moncada 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. Hansen and Elliott Elm '11 posted back-to-back straight-set wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. SJU followed a loss at No. 4 singles with wins at the final two singles matches by a pair of freshmen. Rust and Laue 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 junior Zach Shriwise (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) followed suit with a 9-8 (7-2) decision at No. 2. St. Scholastica earned its second and final match win with an 8-5 victory at No. 3 doubles.