The Johnnie tennis team returns to conference action with a 4:30 p.m. match against St. Olaf this Saturday, April 5, in Owatonna.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (4-6, 0-2 MIAC) dropped its third straight tennis match with a 6-3 non-conference decision at St. Scholastica last Sunday (March 30) in Duluth. CSS improved to 39-9 in doubles competition this season with the sweep of all three bouts Sunday. Senior Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels) won at No. 2 singles, 6-4 and 6-1, while junior Jordan Otto (Rice, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) followed with a 7-6 (8-6) and 6-2 decision at No. 3. Sophomore Andrew Nagel (Maple Grove, Minn.) won the Johnnies' other singles match at No. 6: 7-6 (7-4), 4-6 and 10-7. The loss was the first for SJU against St. Scholastica since Feb. 8, 2003 (5-4 in Duluth).

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (3-4, 1-2 MIAC) returns to conference play Saturday after winning a pair of matches in Florida March 25 (9-0 over Lawrence) and March 27 (5-4 over Southeastern Florida), respectively. The Oles started its 2014 season with a 6-3 win over Bethel Feb. 15, before falling to nationally-ranked Gustavus Adolphus (9-0) and St. Thomas (5-4). STO, which is 18-24 (.429) in singles competition and a combined 3-11 (.214) at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles this spring, also dropped an 8-1 decision to St. Cloud State March 15 in Sartell.

CHANGE OF SCENERY: Saturday's match, originally scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on the St. Olaf campus (outdoors), was moved to the Owatonna Tennis Center due to Thursday evening's snowfall.

LAST YEAR'S MATCHES: SJU fell to St. Olaf 6-3 earlier in the season (April 13, 2013) in Sartell, only to earn revenge with a 5-2 victory in the quarterfinal round of the MIAC Tournament May 3. St. Olaf started its win with victories in all three doubles matches, including two by 8-6 decisions. Fabricio Moncada '13 won at No. 1 singles [6-3, 7-6, (11-9)] with a straight-set win over Andy Catania. Senior Connor Rust (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) won his match at No. 3 via the super-breaker, 10-6. Rust lost the first set with a 7-5 score in the tie-breaker before claiming a 6-4 win in the second set. Willie Paul '13 won the Johnnies' other match with identical 6-1 scores at No. 6. Laue lost a hard-fought match via the super-breaker at No. 2. Laue won the first set 6-3 before falling 6-0 in the second. He lost the super-breaker, 10-5.

The Johnnies won their first MIAC Tournament match since 2006 with the 5-2 decision over the Oles in May. SJU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with a sweep of the doubles competition. Moncada and sophomore Jack Hansen (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) tallied a hard-fought 10-8 win at No. 1 doubles, while the Johnnies added 8-3 decisions at both Nos. 2 and 3. Moncada improved to 20-6 in singles play, 15-5 at No. 1, with a three-set victory. He dropped the first match 6-4, only to earn back-to-back 6-4 wins to make it 4-2 in favor of SJU. The 20 wins are the most in a season by a Johnnie since Pete Crouser and Brent Feddema each won 20 matches in 1993. Hansen clinched the win with a win at No. 4 (6-3, 6-4). The win snapped a seven-match losing streak to the Oles. The last Johnnie win over STO was a 7-2 decision on March 1, 2008.