Saint John's tennis opens its 2023 season with a pair of home matches this weekend at Sta-Fit in Sartell, beginning with a 1 p.m. conference tilt vs. St. Scholastica on Saturday, Feb. 18. The Johnnies then host Bethany Lutheran at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's finished fifth in the MIAC with a 6-3 record (10-7 overall) last spring. Four Johnnies earned a total of six 2022 All-MIAC honors and Jack Bowe was named the MIAC Steve Wilkinson Coach of the Year for the third time of his career (2003, 2019). 

Seniors Peyton Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) and Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) earned the honor in singles competition, while Fischer, McDowell, senior Hunter Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) and sophomore Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) achieved the distinction in doubles play. 

The singles and doubles honors are the second consecutive for McDowell, who was also named to the MIAC All-Sportsmanship team. He finished 5-9 in singles play, including a 5-8 record (4-4 MIAC) at No. 1. In doubles competition, McDowell and Hunter Fischer posted a 5-6 record (4-4 MIAC) with wins in five of their last six matches at No. 1.

Peyton Fischer achieved All-MIAC status with a 5-4 MIAC record (5-11 overall, 4-8 at No. 2) and teamed up with Will to lead SJU's doubles tandems with an 11-5 record (6-3 MIAC), 7-4 at No. 2 and 3-0 at No. 1.

IN THE FALL: Eight Johnnies competed at the 2022 ITA Midwest Regional and Midwest Open Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Mankato and St. Peter.

A two-sport student-athlete (hockey and tennis), sophomore Cooper Anderson (St. Paul, Minn./White Bear Lake) went 1-1 in singles competition at the ITA Regional, while the other five Johnnies all took a loss in their first bout. All three doubles tandems went 0-1.

Freshman Taylor Duncan (Benson, Minn.) and senior Joe Dwyer (Hibbing, Minn.) suffered an 8-6 loss in their first doubles match at the Midwest Open. Friday's rain changed the scoring for the Midwest Open's singles bracket to match doubles competition (one set, first to eight). Duncan went 1-1, while Dwyer was 0-1.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Johnnies follow this weekend's home matches with five over spring break in Florida (Orlando area):

-Sunday, March 5: Saint Vincent (Pa.)
-Tuesday, March 7: Hampden-Sydney (Va.) and Covenant (Ga.)
-Thursday, March 9: Piedmont (Ga.)
-Friday, March 10: Division II Cedarville (Ohio)

A LOOK AT THE SAINTS: St. Scholastica (1-4, 0-3 MIAC) enters Saturday's match riding a three-game losing skid, including a 9-0 defeat last Saturday (Feb. 11) at home to No. 17 Gustavus Adolphus. Sophomore Jonas Abeleda returns for CSS after posting an 8-6 (5-4 MIAC) singles record over Nos. 1 and 2 last spring for a team that finished 5-10 (3-6 MIAC). Abeleda and freshman Eamon Gerrard-Stace, as well as the freshman tandem of Jack Onkka and Julius Tabrizi, are 2-2 (1-1 MIAC) in doubles play so far this spring.

LAST SPRING: SJU opened the 2022 season with a 6-3 road win at St. Scholastica last Feb. 12 (2022) at the Virginia Indoor Tennis Center in Virginia. CSS claimed wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, as well as No. 1 doubles, but SJU registered victories in the other six matches.

Peyton Fischer and Will posted an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles and the duo of juniors Will Deters (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) and Mark Rosen (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) gave SJU a 2-1 lead after doubles competition with a convincing 8-2 victory at No. 3.

Rosen collected a straight-set win at No. 3 singles (6-3, 7-5) and Will followed suit with the same at No. 4, thanks to a second-set tie-breaker (6-3, 7-6/7-3).

Mike Krasowski and junior Daniel Perez (Quito, Ecuador) rounded out the match with wins at Nos. 5 and 6 singles, respectively. Krasowski dropped a close 7-6 (12-10) loss in the first set but battled back for a 6-1 decision in the second and a 10-7 victory in the super-breaker.

Hunter Fischer and McDowell suffered an 8-7 (7-3) defeat at No. 1 doubles.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 26-3 against the Saints since 1992, including wins in 14 of the last 16 meetings. The two losses occurred in 2014 (6-3 in Duluth) and 2017 (5-4 in Virginia).

A LOOK AT THE VIKINGS: Bethany Lutheran (2-1, 0-0 UMAC) topped Cornell (Iowa) 5-4 in its first match of the spring last Saturday (Feb. 11) in Owatonna. The Vikings went 1-1 on the road – a 5-4 win at Wartburg (Iowa) and a 7-2 loss at Hamline – back in September. Junior Marcos Borobia Arias went 9-5 (6-2 UMAC), including an 8-4 mark at No. 2 singles, and posted a 12-2 record (8-0 UMAC) at No. 1 doubles last spring. Sophomore Heitor Damaso totaled an 8-6 record (4-3 UMAC) record, with a 7-5 mark at No. 3 singles, while sophomore Caue Ribeiro was 7-7 (5-3 UMAC) over Nos. 4-5. BLC finished 7-8 (4-4 UMAC) last season and travels today (Friday, Feb. 17) to face NAIA Mount Marty (S.D.) before making Sunday's trip to Sartell. Sunday's match is the first between the Johnnies and Vikings on the tennis court.