The Johnnies travel to face St. Scholastica for their final non-conference match at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, at Longview Tennis Club in Duluth.

SCHEDULE CHANGES: Wednesday's match was originally scheduled for last Wednesday (April 21) but was postponed due to weather. The Johnnies' conference trip to Carleton scheduled for this past Sunday (April 25) was postponed and rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. this Friday, April 30, at the Chang Tennis Complex in Collegeville.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (5-3, 4-3 MIAC) dropped its second consecutive match, 7-2, to Bethel last Saturday, April 17, in Collegeville.

The match was much closer than the five-point margin shows, as the top three singles matches were decided by the super-breaker (1-2 SJU record) and all three doubles matches by three points or less.

Erik Beckers and Jason Reilly edged senior Thomas Gillach (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) and sophomore Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) at No. 1 doubles, 8-6.

Senior Nate Jordre (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) and freshman Mason Meyer (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) posted an 8-6 win at No. 2, but freshman Will Deters (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) and sophomore Hunter Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) suffered an 8-5 defeat at No. 3.

Gillach won his first set at No. 1 singles, 7-5, but Bethel's Erik Becker's bounced back to take the second set, 6-4 and won the match via the super-breaker, 10-8.

The pattern repeated itself for Jordre at No. 2, but even tighter. He won the first set, 6-1, but Zach Kantor posted a 6-0 shutout in the second set and won a high-scoring super-breaker, 12-10.

McDowell won SJU's lone singles match at No. 3: 6-7 (4-7), 6-2 and 10-6.

A LOOK AT THE SAINTS: St. Scholastica (8-3, 6-0 UMAC) takes the court Wednesday riding a six-match win streak, including a 7-2 victory over Northwestern last Saturday (April 24) in Duluth. The win was the Saints' 172nd consecutive in the UMAC and clinched the program's 24th consecutive regular-season title. Senior Elliot Schneider is 9-0 at No. 1 singles and sophomore Giacomo Lucchesi is a collective 8-3 across Nos. 3-5. 

LAST SPRING: SJU topped St. Scholastica by a score of 6-3 last Feb. 25 (2020) at Sta-Fit in Sartell. The Johnnies swept all three doubles matches, two of which came off of 8-7 wins via the tie-breaker. 

Gillach and Jordre won their tie-breaker 9-7 at No. 1, and McDowell and Jess Hansen '20 posted a 7-5 decision in the extra frame at No. 2.

The two teams split the six singles matches, two of which came via the super-breaker at No. 5 and 6 for St. Scholastica.

The Johnnies swept No. 2-4 in straight sets. Gillach defeated Serhii Tykhonenko, the reigning three-time UMAC Player of the Year, at No. 2 (7-5, 6-1), while McDowell and Hansen won at No. 3 (6-2, 6-3) and No. 4 (6-4, 6-3), respectively.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 24-3 against the Saints since 1992, including wins in 12 of the last 14 meetings. The two losses, however, were in unfamiliar territory: 2017 in Virginia, Minn. (5-4) and 2014 in Duluth (6-3).