Saint John's tennis plays a pair of matches this weekend, beginning at noon Saturday, April 23, against Macalester at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis. The Johnnies return home to host Carleton at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 24, at the Chang Tennis Complex in Collegeville.

A LITTLE LATER SUNDAY: Sunday's home, outdoor match against Carleton was bumped from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. due to the forecast of windy conditions.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-4, 5-1 MIAC) earned a hard-fought, 6-3 win last night (April 21) at Northwestern.

The Johnnies swept all three doubles matches, including a wild 8-7 victory at No. 2 that ended with a 16-14 win in the tie-breaker for juniors Peyton and Will Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar). 

Juniors Hunter Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) and Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) and sophomore Ian Aadland (Brainerd, Minn.) and freshman Cooper Anderson (St. Paul, Minn./White Bear Lake) collected 8-1 wins at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively.

The Eagles won all three singles matches at the top via the super-breaker, while sophomore Mike Krasowski (Wausau, Wis./East) returned the favor at No. 4 (4-6, 7-5, 10-7).

Sophomore Daniel Perez (Quito, Ecuador) and Will Fischer posted straight-set victories at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.

A LOOK AT THE SCOTS: Macalester (9-5, 5-1 MIAC) won its second consecutive match with an 8-1 score yesterday (April 21) over Hamline. The Scots are a combined 20-7 at Nos. 4-5 singles, as well as 11-3 at No. 3 doubles this spring. Senior Alexander Poland leads the team with a 9-3 (5-1 MIAC) singles mark, while junior Mathew Sullivan is 8-2 (4-1 MIAC). Poland and freshman Liam Lynch is 8-3 (4-1 MIAC) as a doubles pair.

LAST YEAR: SJU ended the 2021 season with a 5-4 loss to Macalester last May 2 (2021) at the Chang Tennis Complex. The Johnnies took two of the three doubles matches, but went 1-2 in singles matches decided by the super-breaker.

Thomas Gillach '21 and junior Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) improved to 7-3 (6-3 MIAC) at No. 1 doubles with an 8-6 victory, while Nate Jordre '21 and sophomore Mason Meyer (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) posted an 8-5 win at No. 2.

Gillach (6-2, 5-7, 10-7) and Jordre (6-2, 3-6, 10-1) suffered super-breaker losses to the Scots at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, and McDowell flipped the trend with a win at No. 3: 3-6, 6-2 and 10-7.

Meyer won the Johnnies' other match in straight sets at No. 5, 6-3 and 6-3.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 24-10 against the Scots since 1989, but just 5-5 in St. Paul. SJU holds a 17-5 advantage in the series, overall, since 2002. All five losses were by a 5-4 decision (including 2021).

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (11-4, 5-0 MIAC) returned to the win column with a 9-0 shutout - the team's fifth in five conference matches - of St. Olaf yesterday (April 21) on its home court. The Knights visit No. 17 Gustavus Adolphus Saturday before venturing north to face SJU. Freshman Tarm Rojanasoonthon has an 11-1 (3-0 MIAC) record and is ranked sixth in the Central Region by ITA as a singles player, and is ranked 13th regionally with William Walsh as a doubles tandem. Xander Roti also has 11 wins (11-3, 5-0 MIAC) in singles play. Carleton currently has five countries and six U.S. states represented on its roster. 

A YEAR AGO: SJU suffered an 8-1 defeat to Carleton last April 30 (2021) in Collegeville. The Knights swept the three doubles matches and won five singles bouts in straight sets. Jordre '21 won the lone match for SJU at No. 2 singles, via the super-breaker: 7-5, 2-6 and 10-6. Jordre and Meyer suffered a two-point loss at No. 2 doubles, as did sophomore Will Deters (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) and Hunter Fischer at No. 3.

SERIES HISTORY: Carleton leads the series with a 26-10 record since 1989, including a 6-4 mark in Collegeville. The Knights have won each of the last 22 meetings overall since the last SJU victory, a 6-3 decision on April 6, 2002, in Collegeville.