The Johnnie tennis team returns to action with a 1:30 p.m. match, its first road trip of the 2013 season, to Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday, March 9, at Courts Plus in Fargo, N.D.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (1-2, 1-0 MIAC) opened conference play with a 7-2 win over Bethel two weeks ago on Feb. 24 in Sartell. SJU won all but one of its singles matches on the afternoon. Nos. 1-3 proved to be tough matches as senior Fabricio Moncada (Managua, Nicaragua/Lincoln International Academy) won at No. 1 (6-4, 7-5) and junior Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels) battled to a 10-8 win in the super-breaker at No. 3 [7-6 (7-3), 3-6]. Junior Connor Rust (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) fell at No. 2 by a 7-5 decision in both sets. Freshman Jack Hansen (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) and seniors Zach Shriwise (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) and Willie Paul (Duluth, Minn./Marshall) cruised to wins at No. 4 (6-1, 6-1); No. 5 (6-2, 6-4); and No. 6 singles (6-4, 6-2), respectively. Tucker Morris and Reggie Ronning improved to 3-0 at No. 1 doubles for BU with an 8-4 win over Moncada and Rust. Laue and Shriwise posted an 8-6 win at No. 2, while Hansen and classmate Andrew Nagel (Maple Grove, Minn.) won 8-5 at No. 3.
A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (2-6, 0-1 MIAC) returns to conference play after posting a 2-4 record in Florida Feb. 25-March 1. Senior Devin Larson leads the team with a 5-3 record at No. 2 singles and touts a 5-3 record with classmate Brian Olson at No. 1 doubles. The rest of the team is 10-30 in singles competition (4-12 in doubles play).
LAST YEAR: The Johnnies won their third straight match with a 7-2 victory over Concordia-Moorhead on April 13 of last year in Sartell. Moncada improved to 13-4 (5-1 MIAC) on the season with a straight-set victory at No. 1 singles. Three of the Johnnies' other four wins in singles competition (Ian Hansen '12, Rust and Paul) followed suit in straight sets. Shriwise won his first set 6-4 at No. 5 but needed a 10-6 victory in the super-breaker to claim the match for SJU. Hansen and Moncada won at No. 1 doubles, 8-6, while Paul and John Burns '12 tallied an 8-4 win at No. 3. The victory avenged the 2011 loss (7-2) to the Cobbers in Fargo, N.D.; the first regular-season loss to CC since 2005.
