Saint John's tennis ends the regular season with a pair of matches this week, beginning with a non-conference visit to Northwestern at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in Roseville. The Johnnies wrap up the conference schedule by hosting Carleton at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 28, at Sta-Fit in Sartell.

INDOORS ON SUNDAY: The mixture of colder temperatures (high of 47 degrees) and expected precipitation moved Sunday's regular-season finale indoors to Stat-Fit in Sartell.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (4-9, 4-4 MIAC) won both of its matches last weekend.

Saint John's 9, at Saint Mary's 0 – April 19
The Johnnies allowed three points or less in doubles competition and won five of the six singles matches in straight sets against Saint Mary's. 

Senior Ian Aadland (Brainerd, Minn.) and freshman Sam Wolden (St. Louis Park, Minn.) tallied an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles, while juniors Cooper Anderson (St. Paul, Minn./White Bear Lake)/Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) and senior Will Deters (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata)/freshman Alex Draeger (Litchfield, Minn.) collected 8-3 victories at Nos. 1 and 3, respectively.

Will played his eighth super-breaker match of the season and collected a win thanks to a 10-3 decision.

The other five Johnnies earned straight-set wins: Aadland at No. 2 (6-1, 6-2); Wolden at No. 3 (6-0, 6-2); senior Daniel Perez (Quito, Ecuador) at No. 4 (6-3, 6-2); senior Mark Rosen (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) at No. 5 (6-4, 6-1); and Anderson at No. 6 (6-2, 6-2).

Saint John's 7, at Bethel 2 – April 20
SJU swept all three doubles matches, thanks to two via the tie-breaker, and went 3-2 in the five singles bouts decided by the super-breaker in the victory.

Anderson and Will pulled out an 8-7 win at No. 1 doubles thanks to an 8-6 decision in the tie-breaker, as did Draeger and Rosen at No. 3 with a 7-5 score. Aadland and Wolden recorded a less stressful victory at No. 2, 8-3.

Aadland prevailed in the lone singles match decided in straight sets at No. 2, 6-2 and 6-1.

Wolden cruised to a 6-0 score in his first set at No. 3, but was edged in the second 7-6 (7-4) before he bounced back with a 10-5 win in the super-breaker to improve to 8-3 (7-1 MIAC) on the year.

Perez and Anderson followed a similar pattern at Nos. 4 and 6, respectively. Perez won his first set 6-1, dropped the second 6-3 and scored the final five points in the super-breaker for a 10-7 victory. Anderson exchanged 6-4 scores in his first two sets and edged his opponent 10-8 in the super-breaker.

Will and Rosen suffered super-breaker defeats to the Royals (10-8, 3-4 MIAC) at Nos. 1 (6-4, 4-6, 10-6) and 5 (6-2, 2-6, 12-10), respectively.

A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Northwestern (16-8, 2-1 UMAC) saw its win streak end at two matches with an 8-1 home loss to Luther (Iowa) yesterday (April 23). The Eagles host Macalester today (April 24) before welcoming the Johnnies on Thursday. Senior Stewart Morrell has been All-UMAC since he was a freshman. He is 20-3 at the top singles spot and is 17-6 at No. 1 doubles, with most of those being with junior Jacob Weddle.

LAST YEAR: The Johnnies won all three doubles matches and four singles bouts in straight sets, though two needed a tie-breaker, last March 21 (2023) at Sta-Fit. Wil McDowell '23 won a 7-3 tie-breaker in his first set (and took the second 6-2) at No. 1 and Will – the MIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week at the time – took his first set 6-3 at No. 4 and won the second-set tie-breaker, 7-5. Rosen won his fifth-straight match, at No. 5 (6-1 and 6-3), and Anderson claimed a victory at No. 6 (6-1 and 6-1).

Peyton Fischer '23 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. Weddle took the high-scoring super-breaker, 16-14, for Northwestern.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 6-0 all-time against Northwestern on the tennis court. Thursday's match is the second between the two programs on the Eagles' home court (a 6-3 win on April 21, 2022).

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (12-5, 7-1 MIAC) had won three in a row, all against MIAC opponents, before falling to No. 13 Gustavus Adolphus by an 8-1 score last Saturday (April 20). Senior Yuv Kataria is a three-time All-MIAC selection in singles play and a two-time honoree in doubles competition. He is 9-6 (6-1 MIAC) at No. 1 singles and has played mostly No. 2 doubles with a 6-5 (4-0 MIAC) record. The Knights were ranked No. 5 in today's (April 24) NCAA Region VII rankings and host Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday before making Sunday's trip north to Collegeville.

A YEAR AGO: SJU ended the 2023 regular-season schedule with a 9-0 loss to regionally ranked Carleton last April 23 at Lifetime Fitness in Lakeville. The Knights, who were ranked No. 10 in Region VII by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), swept five of the six singles matches in straight sets. 

Perez came the closest to victory for SJU at No. 5 singles. He matched a 6-2 defeat in his first set with a 6-2 win in the second, but dropped the super-breaker with a 10-6 score.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 11-32 against Carleton since 1984. The Knights have won each of the last 20 meetings going back to the last Johnnie victory on April 6, 2002, in Collegeville (6-3).