Saint John's tennis begins its 2022 season with a 2 p.m. MIAC match against St. Scholastica on Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Virginia Indoor Tennis Center in Virginia.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's tennis needs to replace its top two players, Thomas Gillach '21 and Nate Jordre '21, from a team that finished sixth in the MIAC, one win from the MIAC playoffs, with a 4-5 record (6-5 overall) in 2021. 

Junior Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) earned All-MIAC honors in both singles and doubles play last spring after he led the Johnnies with eight singles wins (8-3 record), including a 6-3 mark in conference play. He and Gillach collected a 7-3 (6-3 MIAC) record at No. 1 doubles.

Sophomore Mason Meyer (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) totaled a 6-4 (5-3 MIAC) singles record, including a 4-3 mark at No. 5, and went 4-4 with Jordre at No. 2 doubles.

Junior Peyton Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) collected a 5-6 (3-6 MIAC) singles record and partnered with brother Hunter Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) for a 4-2 doubles record in conference play (3-2 at No. 3).

IN THE FALL: Twelve Johnnies competed at the 2021 ITA Midwest Regional and Midwest Open Oct. 1-3 on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter.

All six Johnnies suffered a loss in their first singles match at the ITA Regional, though McDowell and Hunter Fischer teamed up for a 1-1 record in doubles play.

Meyer and freshman Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) led SJU with 2-1 singles records at the Midwest Open. In doubles competition, Meyer and Will Fischer went 3-1 and the tandem of sophomores Will Deters (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) and Mark Rosen (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) tallied a 2-1 mark.

A LOOK AT THE SAINTS: St. Scholastica (1-0, 0-0 MIAC) started its 2022 season with a 6-3 road win on Sunday (Feb. 6) at St. Norbert (Wis.). Senior Elliot Schneider extended his dual win streak at No. 1 singles to 15 (6-1, 6-1), while freshman Jonas Abeleda won his first collegiate match at No. 2 (6-3, 6-0). Junior Giacomo Lucchesi (6-3, 6-2) and senior Riley Versich (6-0, 6-3) won the Saints' other singles matches at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Earlier in the day, Lucchesi and Schneider won at No. 1 doubles (8-3) and Abeleda and classmate Alex Daigneault did the same at No. 2 (8-2).

LAST SPRING: The Johnnies earned a 6-3 non-conference win at St. Scholastica last April 28 (2021) at Longview Tennis Club in Duluth. The difference was at doubles, where the Johnnies swept all three bouts as the two teams split the six singles matches.

Gillach and McDowell improved to 6-2 at No. 1 doubles with an 8-6 win, while sophomore Will Deters (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) and Hunter Fischer matched the 8-6 decision at No. 2.

The sophomore duo of Ian Aadland (Brainerd, Minn.) and Mark Rosen (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) won at No. 3, 8-4.

McDowell cruised to a win at No. 2, 6-1 and 6-0, to increase his team-best mark to 7-2 in singles play.

Peyton Fischer posted a victory at No. 3 via the super-breaker (4-6, 6-4, 10-8), while his brother Will won the Johnnies' other singles match at No. 6, 6-3 and 7-6 (7-3).

The Saints won at Nos. 1, 4 and 5 singles. Sophomore Mike Krasowski (Wausau, Wis./East) suffered a hard-fought defeat at No. 5: 6-3, 3-6, 12-10.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 25-3 against the Saints since 1992, including wins in 13 of the last 15 meetings. The two losses occurred in 2014 (6-3 in Duluth) and 2017 (5-4 in Virginia).