The Johnnie tennis team ends its regular season with a noon match at Carleton this Saturday, April 27, at Bell Field in Northfield.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (7-11, 5-3 MIAC) won its third consecutive match with a 6-3 victory over Division II St. Cloud State on April 25 at Fitness Evolution in Sartell. SJU gained a 2-1 lead after doubles play and won matches at Nos. 3-6 singles to earn the victory. SCSU (5-14 overall) tallied wins at No. 1 (Tyler Hjalmquist) and No. 2 singles (Jordan Peterson) before junior Connor Rust (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) started a new trend with a win at No. 3 via the super-breaker (1-6, 7-5, 10-1). Freshman Jack Hansen (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) cruised at No. 4 (6-1, 6-0) and senior Willie Paul (Duluth, Minn./Marshall) used a tie-breaker in the first set, 7-4, to earn win No. 9 at No. 5 (7-6, 6-2). Junior Alex Wiegmann (Sunburg, Minn./New London-Spicer) followed suit with a tie-breaker (7-3) in his first set at No. 6 to improve to 8-4 on the season (7-6, 6-2). Paul and classmate Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels) won at No. 2 doubles (8-1), while Wiegmann and senior Trent Fader (Willmar, Minn.) tallied an 8-3 victory at No. 3.
A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (12-5, 6-1 MIAC) bounced back from its first MIAC loss of the spring, 9-0 to league-leading Gustavus Adolphus April 20, with an 8-1 win over rival St. Olaf April 25. The Knights have struggled at No. 1 singles (8-9 record), but are a combined 57-28 (.671) at Nos. 2-6, and are 17-4 in MIAC doubles play. The Knights host SJU Saturday before wrapping up their regular-season schedule at St. Thomas Sunday, April 28. Carleton has won each of the past 12 meetings. The last SJU win in the series occurred April 6, 2002 (6-3).
LAST YEAR'S MEETING: Moncada and Ian Hansen '12 continued their winnings ways in singles competition but the Johnnies dropped a 6-3 decision to Carleton last Feb. 19 (2012) in Sartell. Moncada won his third straight match to improve to 8-2 on the year with a victory at No.1 (6-3, 6-1). Hansen, meanwhile, improved to 6-0 so far this spring with a win via the super-breaker at No. 2 (4-6, 6-2, 10-8). Hansen and junior Zach Shriwise (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) tallied the Johnnies' other win at No. 1 doubles, 8-1.
