The Saint John's tennis team begins its 2014 season with a pair of matches this Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Owatonna Tennis & Fitness Center. The Johnnies are scheduled to face Division II Augustana (S.D.) at 1 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. contest against Grinnell (Iowa).
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Johnnies will rely on a trio of seniors, and a number of underclassmen, in 2014. Seniors Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels), Connor Rust (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) and Alex Wiegmann (Sunburg, Minn./New London-Spicer) combined for 16 wins in singles competition and 10 in doubles last spring. Sophomore Jack Hansen (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd), meanwhile, went 8-13 (singles) and 4-4 (doubles) in an impressive freshman campaign in 2013. SJU needs to replace three stalwarts due to graduation, including four-time All-MIAC honoree Fabricio Moncada (20-6 singles, 9-15 doubles). The Johnnies were picked to finish fifth out of 10 teams, for the second consecutive season, in the 2014 MIAC Coaches' Preseason poll released Feb. 6.
BACK IN SEPTEMBER: Five Johnnies competed at the 2013 USTA/ITA Midwest Regional and Midwest Open last fall, Sept. 27-28, at Gustavus Adolphus. Freshman Steven Wirtz (Overland Park, Kan./Bishop Miege) defeated Bethel's Kirby Ronning (6-1, 6-0) for his first collegiate win before falling in the second round of the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional. Rust and Hansen lost their opening-round singles matches, but went 1-1 as a doubles tandem. Sophomore Ben Lahren (Wausau, Wis./West) posted a 2-1 record in singles competition at the Midwest Open and teamed up with Wirtz for a 1-1 record in doubles play. Sophomore Joe Evavold (Andover, Minn./Coon Rapids) lost his first-round match to St. Olaf's Michael Schroeder (6-4, 6-1).
A LOOK AT THE VIKINGS: Augustana (0-1 record) opened its 2014 season with a 5-4 loss to Nebraska Wesleyan on Saturday (Feb. 1). The Vikings took two singles matches and both doubles matches that were played, but a forfeit at No. 3 doubles and two in singles competition (Nos. 5-6), put the Prairie Wolves just two matches away from sealing the win. Augie returns five student-athletes from last year's squad, including junior Collin Noldner, who went 10-4 at No. 2 singles last season. Sophomore Jared Hofer played No. 4 singles last year but had a strong fall at the ITA Central Region Championships and looks to take over the No. 2 spot. Though a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), the conference does not sponsor men's tennis.
A LOOK AT THE PIONEERS: Grinnell (1-1 record) started its season with a split last Saturday, defeating Division II Truman State (Mo.) 6-3 before falling to NAIA Graceland (Iowa), 5-4. The Pioneers won two of three doubles matches against Truman State: junior Emilio Gomez and sophomore Tracy Johnson at No. 2 (8-5) and freshman Cole Miller and sophomore C.J. Ray at No. 3 (8-5). In singles, winners were Miller at No. 3 (7-5, 6-2), Tommy Pitcher at No. 4 (6-1, 6-3), Johnson at No. 5 (6-3, 6-2) and Charlie Wilhelm at No. 6 (6-2, 6-2). In the loss to Graceland, Gomez won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, Pitcher posted a 6-1, 6-7, 10-8 victory at No. 3 and Johnson won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4. Miller and Ray won 8-5 at No. 3 doubles. Grinnell went 22-12 last year and won its 10th consecutive Midwest Conference (MWC) title.
