Saint John's tennis returns to competition with six matches over six days (March 5-10) during spring break in the Orlando, Fla., area.

THE SCHEDULE IN FLORIDA
-Sunday, March 5: 3:30 p.m. ET vs. Saint Vincent (Pa.), USTA National Campus in Orlando
-Monday, March 6: 7:30 a.m. ET vs. NAIA Judson (Ill.), USTA National Campus in Orlando
-Tuesday, March 7 (2 matches): 11:30 a.m. ET vs. Covenant (Ga.), Oak Street Park in Kissimmee; 6 p.m. ET vs. Hampden-Sydney (Va.), USTA National Campus in Orlando
-Thursday, March 9: 11 a.m. ET vs. Piedmont (Ga.), USTA National Campus in Orlando
-Friday, March 10: 8 a.m. ET vs. Division II Cedarville (Ohio), Oak Street Park in Kissimmee

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (1-1, 0-1 MIAC) started its 2023 season with a 1-1 record two weeks ago (Feb. 18-19) at Sta-Fit in Sartell.

St. Scholastica 9, at Saint John's 0
The Johnnies dropped two singles matches via the super-breaker and two of the three doubles matches were decided by three points or less to St. Scholastica. Senior Peyton Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) won his first set at No. 2 singles with a 6-3 score, but dropped the second (7-5) and fell in the super-breaker (10-4). Junior Daniel Perez (Quito, Ecuador) bounced back from a 6-4 loss in his first set at No. 4 with a 6-2 win in the second, but lost in a nail-biting 10-8 score in the super-breaker.

Senior Will Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) and junior Mason Meyer (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) suffered a close 8-6 loss at No. 3 doubles and the senior duo of Hunter Fischer (Spicer, Minn./Willmar) and Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) were denied with an 8-5 score at No. 1.

at Saint John's 7, Bethany Lutheran 2
SJU bounced back from the previous day's loss with a 7-2 win over Bethany Lutheran. Senior Wil McDowell (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) recorded the most stressful win for SJU in singles play at No. 1. He dropped his first set 6-0, but responded with a 7-6 (7-5) victory in the second and a narrow 10-8 decision in the super-breaker.

The Johnnies tallied a pair of shutouts on the afternoon: Peyton Fischer and sophomore Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) at No. 2 doubles (8-0) and junior Mark Rosen (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) at No. 6 singles (6-0, 6-0). Fischer added a victory at No. 2 singles (7-5, 6-1) and Will cruised to a win at No. 5 (6-1, 6-2).

The Vikings recorded wins at No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles.

LAST YEAR'S TRIP: The Johnnies extended their win streak to six matches with victories in the first three matches of last year's spring-break trip in Orlando, before the team dropped a pair of bouts on the last day to non-Division III teams. SJU earned wins over Ohio Wesleyan (5-4) and a pair of Illinois schools, Monmouth (8-1) and NAIA St. Francis (5-4). The Johnnies suffered 7-0 losses to NAIA St. Thomas (Fla.) and Division II Stonehill (Mass.), and had two other matches canceled due to rain: March 7 vs. Covenant (Ga.) and March 10 vs. Hampden-Sydney (Va.).

All 12 Johnnies competed in singles and doubles competition on the trip. Will led the team with two singles wins (nine others posted a win each), while he and Peyton Fischer improved to 7-2 in doubles play with a 3-1 record.

THE OPPONENTS
-Saint Vincent (Pa.): The Bearcats are 2-0 and, like SJU, open their trip on Sunday…Saint Vincent ended the 2022 season with a 15-6 record and a 5-2 mark in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC)…the 15 wins were a program record...SVC returns junior David Lynn (All-PAC first team) and sophomore Jack Citrone (All-PAC second team)…Lynn went 8-7 (6-7 at No. 1) and Citrone posted a 14-3 record (11-0 at No. 5) in singles play…the group of Benedictine monks who founded SJU came from Saint Vincent.

-NAIA Judson (Ill.): The Eagles are 3-3 and start their trip Sunday vs. Ave Maria (Fla.) before they take on SJU…junior Alexandre Veitkamp led the team with a 15-4 singles record, including 5-0 at No. 1 and 7-3 at No. 2…the 11-man team consists of two Americans.

-Covenant (Ga.): Covenant is 4-1 and plays four matches, two each on Saturday (March 4) and Monday (March 6), before facing the Johnnies on Tuesday…the Scots totaled a 12-6 record with a perfect 6-0 mark to win the USA South West Division title…Covenant moved to the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) this year…the team returns three seniors - Gill Dunn (11-5 record), Ethan Gibson (9-9) and Ben Luke (8-6) – who were All-USA South honorees last season.

-Hampden-Sydney (Va.): The Tigers are 2-3 and play two matches Sunday, as well as Schreiner (Texas) on Tuesday morning before taking on SJU that evening…H-SC finished 10-9 (6-2 ODAC) last spring and returns all but two of its letterwinners from that team…junior Barrett Foster was named to the All-ODAC second team in both singles (11-15, 10-8 at No. 1) and doubles (13-16, 8-11 at No. 1, classmate Henry Singleton was second team in singles play (11-9 record)…Hampden-Sydney, like SJU, is an all-male institution.

-Piedmont (Ga.): Piedmont is 3-1 and ends its trip vs. the Johnnies Thursday morning following two-match days on Monday and Wednesday…the Lions were picked second, behind Covenant, in the inaugural Collegiate Conference of the South preseason poll…PU won a program-record 16 matches (16-6 record, 5-1 USA South) and returns four of its six main starters.

-Division II Cedarville (Ohio): The Yellow Jackets are 5-3 and close their four-match trip to Florida Friday morning vs. SJU…Toshi Watanabe is 6-2, all at No. 1 singles, after going 8-9 (3-8 at No. 1) last spring.

SERIES HISTORIES: Five of the six opponents next week are new for SJU on the tennis court. The lone, familiar face is Cedarville, which SJU has a 1-3 record against: 2015 (L, 3-6); 2017 (L, 3-6); 2018 (W, 8-1); and 2020 (L, 2-5).