The Johnnie tennis team returns to conference action with a 4 p.m. match today against Hamline at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis. The contest was moved indoors due to today's forecasted rain.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (5-10, 1-5 MIAC) lost its second to Division II St. Cloud State this spring, 8-1 on April 15 at Fitness Evolution in Sartell. Senior Connor Rust (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) recorded the lone win for SJU (5-10, 1-5 MIAC), via the super-breaker, at No. 4 singles: 6-3, 6-7 (5-7) and 10-8. The doubles tandems of senior Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels)/sophomore Andrew Nagel (Maple Grove, Minn.) and sophomore Ben Lahren (Wausau, Wis./West)/junior Jordan Otto (Rice, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) both lost by close 8-6 scores at Nos. 2 and 3. SCSU defeated SJU by a 6-3 score earlier this season on Feb. 18 in Sartell.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: SJU needs to win its three remaining conference matches to have a shot at the six-team MIAC Tournament, which begins next Wednesday, April 30. The Johnnies are currently tied with Hamline for eighth out of the 10 MIAC teams, and end the season against Saint Mary's (13-7, 2-5 MIAC) April 25 and Concordia-Moorhead (2-12, 0-7 MIAC) April 27.

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (5-12, 1-5 MIAC) enters today's match with losses in six of its last seven matches, including a 9-0 drubbing to St. Thomas April 13. Seniors Dylan Sperry and Derek Lutz are both 7-9 at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. The rest of the team, however, is a combined 21-43 in singles play this spring.

LAST SPRING: SJU cruised to a 9-0 shutout of Hamline last April 19 (2013) at Fitness Evolution in Sartell. The Johnnies won all nine matches in straight sets. Fabricio Moncada '13 earned his 15th win of the season, 10-4 at No. 1 singles (5-1 MIAC), 6-0 and 6-1. Laue won the Johnnies' first match at No. 2 singles this season, 6-0 and 6-2. Sophomore Jack Hansen (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) won his match with a 7-3 score in the second-set tie-breaker. Zach Shriwise '13 and Willie Paul '13 allowed two points in each of their matches at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, while senior Alex Wiegmann (Sunburg, Minn./New London-Spicer) earned his first MIAC win at No. 6. Moncada and Hansen earned their second consecutive conference win at No. 1 doubles, 8-5. Laue and Nagel followed with an 8-5 win of their own at No. 2 and the tandem of Paul and Shriwise won at No. 3, 8-4.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies have won nine of the last 10 meetings with HU, including each of the last seven.