Saint John's tennis wraps up its three-match homestand by hosting Northwestern at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, at Sta-Fit in Sartell.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (4-6, 2-1 MIAC) enjoyed the return to conference with a pair of wins over the weekend in Sartell.

at Saint John's 6, St. Olaf 3
The Johnnies posted victories at Nos. 1-2 doubles and Nos. 3-6 singles in Saturday's (March 18) win, which ended a five-match skid.

Junior Ian Aadland (Brainerd, Minn.) and senior Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) tallied an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles and the duo consisting of senior Peyton Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) and sophomore Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) cruised to an 8-1 decision at No. 2.

The Oles' two singles wins were both via the super-breaker at Nos. 1 and 2.

SJU won the other four singles matches in straight sets: senior Hunter Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) at No. 3 (6-3 and 6-4); Will at No. 4 (6-3 and 6-1); junior Daniel Perez (Quito, Ecuador) at No. 5 (6-3 and 6-2); and junior Mark Rosen (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) at No. 6 (6-4 and 6-1).

at Saint John's 9, Saint Mary's 0
SJU started the match with a 3-0 lead after doubles play, in which the home team cruised to wins at Nos. 1 (8-2) and 3 (8-1). Peyton Fischer and Will played a much closer match, 8-6.

The Johnnies and Cardinals battled to super-breakers in three of the six singles matches. McDowell dropped his second set 6-4 but posted a 10-6 decision in the super-breaker at No. 1, while Fischer battled back from a 6-4 loss in his first set to take the second (6-4) and the super-breaker with an inflated 12-10 score at No. 2.

Rosen won his fourth-straight match, and team-leading seventh of the season (7-3 record), with a 10-2 victory in the super-breaker at No. 6.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Will was named the MIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week earlier today (March 20). He was the lone Johnnie to go 2-0 in both singles (No. 4) and doubles (No. 2) play over the weekend. Will is currently 5-5 (2-1 MIAC) in singles competition this spring and 4-6 (2-1 MIAC) in doubles.

A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Northwestern (7-6, 0-0 UMAC) dropped a pair of matches, 5-4 vs. Wartburg (Iowa) and 6-3 vs. NAIA Morningside (Iowa), this past Saturday (March 18) in Owatonna. Junior Stewart Morrell is 7-6 at No. 1 singles, while sophomore Jacob Weddle is 7-5 at No. 2 and fifth-year senior Davis Pfaff is 7-6 (6-6 at No. 3). In doubles play, Morrell is 9-3 (8-3 at No. 2) and Weddle is 8-4 (5-2 at No. 2). Both earned All-UMAC first-team honors last year after combining for a 39-8 record in singles competition and 37-12 in doubles.

LAST SPRING: SJU earned a hard-fought, 6-3 win outdoors at Northwestern last April 21 (2022) in Roseville. 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). 

Hunter Fischer/McDowell and Aadland/sophomore 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 Mike Krasowski returned the favor at No. 4 (4-6, 7-5, 10-7).

Perez and Will Fischer posted straight-set victories at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 5-0 all-time against Northwestern. Last year's match was the series' first away from the indoor courts in Sartell.