Saint John's tennis returns to MIAC competition with a pair of road matches this Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26: 1 p.m. Saturday at Concordia (Courts Plus in Fargo, N.D.) and 11:30 a.m. Sunday at No. 14 Gustavus Adolphus (Swanson Tennis Center in St. Peter).

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (5-6, 2-1 MIAC) completed a perfect, three-match homestand with a 7-2 non-conference victory over Northwestern on Tuesday night (March 21) at Sta-Fit in Sartell.

The Johnnies won all three doubles matches and four singles bouts in straight sets, though two needed a tie-breaker. Senior Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) won a 7-3 tie-breaker in his first set (and took the second 6-2) at No. 1 and sophomore Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) – the reigning MIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week – took his first set 6-3 at No. 4 and won the second-set tie-breaker, 7-5. Junior Mark Rosen (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) won his fifth-straight match, at No. 5 (6-1 and 6-3), and sophomore Cooper Anderson (St. Paul, Minn./White Bear Lake) claimed a victory at No. 6 (6-1 and 6-1).

Senior Peyton Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) suffered a marathon loss at No. 2 singles. He dropped the first set 6-4, but clawed back with a 7-6 (7-5) win in the second. Jacob Weddle took the high-scoring super-breaker, 16-14, for Northwestern.

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (2-6, 0-3 MIAC) enters this weekend's competition riding a three-match losing skid. The Cobbers' most recent defeat was a 7-2 decision last Saturday (March 18) at Saint Mary's. Freshman Logan Sandberg is 7-1 (3-0) at No. 1 singles and classmate Kai Pierce is 6-2 (2-1 MIAC) at No. 2. The duo is 3-5 (0-3 MIAC) at No. 1 doubles.

A YEAR AGO: SJU posted a 9-0 shutout of Concordia-Moorhead in last season's home opener on Feb. 19 (2022) in Sartell. SJU won all six singles matches against the Cobbers in straight sets, though Peyton Fischer used a 7-4 tie-breaker in his first set to claim the victory in his first collegiate match in the No. 1 slot (7-6, 7-5). He and Will posted an 8-1 victory at No. 1 doubles.

Rosen went to a seventh point in his first set at No. 2 singles and tallied a 6-1 score in the second to move to 2-0 in league play, while Mike Krasowski tallied a clean sheet (6-0, 6-0) at No. 3.

Junior Daniel Perez (Quito, Ecuador), junior Will Deters (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) and senior Will Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) recorded wins at Nos. 4-6.

Senior Hunter Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) and junior Nolan Morrey (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) teamed up for an 8-5 victory at No. 2 doubles and the duo of Will Fischer and senior Joe Dwyer (Hibbing, Minn.) posted an 8-2 score at No. 3.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 28-9 against the Cobbers since 1989 with wins in each of the last five meetings and 10 of the last 11. The two losses over the last 15 meetings occurred on CC's home court: 2017 in Fargo (6-3) and 2011 in Moorhead (7-2).

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (11-4, 4-0 MIAC) enters this weekend's competition – in four different locations – with a three-match win streak. In addition to hosting SJU on Sunday, a portion of the roster faces Chicago (Ill.) on Saturday and host NAIA Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) Sunday in Milwaukee, others visit Macalester Saturday morning and Division II Augustana (S.D.) Sunday in Sioux Falls, S.D. GAC book-ends singles competition with a 13-1 record at No. 1 and is 13-2 at No. 6 so far this season, as well as 13-2 at both Nos. 2 and 3 doubles.

LAST SEASON: SJU suffered its first conference loss of the season, 9-0, to then-No. 19 Gustavus back on April 2 (2022) at Sta-Fit. The Gusties won all six singles matches in straight sets and posted 8-3 victories - the closest margin - at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles.