Saint John's tennis begins MIAC play with a 3 p.m. match against St. Olaf on Sunday, March 9, at West Hills Tennis & Fitness Center in Owatonna.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (1-1 overall) opened the 2025 season by splitting a pair of neutral-site matches back on Feb. 23, at the Rochester Athletic Club. The Johnnies started the day with a 6-1 win over Wartburg (Iowa) before falling to Wisconsin-La Crosse by a 5-2 score.

SJU won two of the three doubles matches for the single team point against the Knights, who claimed No. 3 by the tie-breaker (7-6/7-4). Seniors Cooper Anderson (St. Paul, Minn./White Bear Lake) and Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) posted a 6-4 victory at No. 1 and sophomores Alex Draeger (Litchfield, Minn.) and Sam Wolden (St. Louis Park, Minn.) cruised to a 6-1 win at No. 2.

Three Johnnies – Will (No. 1), Draeger (No. 6) and junior Josh Peterson (No. 5; Perham, Minn.) – recorded straight-set wins in singles play, while Wolden claimed No. 2 when his opponent retired ahead 6-0, 3-0. The two teams split the other two matches via the super-breaker. Anderson fell at No. 3 (7-6, 4-6, 11-9) and junior Taylor Duncan (Benson, Minn.) won at No. 4 (6-0, 5-7, 10-6).

Will and freshman Cole Haabala (Alexandria, Minn.) provided SJU's wins against La Crosse. Will completed his 2-0 day with a straight-set win (6-4, 6-0) at No. 1 and Haabala came out victorious in his collegiate debut, thanks to the super-breaker, at No. 6 (1-6, 6-2, 10-6).

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (1-3, 1-1 MIAC) has lost each of its three matches this winter/spring following a 7-2 win over Concordia-Moorhead in October. The most recent decision was a 6-3 defeat to St. Scholastica on Sunday (March 2) in Owatonna. The Oles were swept in doubles play and the two teams split the six singles points. Junior Bogdan Vizoli was the MIAC Rookie of the Year in 2023 and All-MIAC in both singles and doubles competition his first two seasons at STO. So far this season, Vizoli is 2-2 (2-0 MIAC) at No. 1 singles and 1-3 (1-1 MIAC) at No. 1 doubles with freshman Lou Smith. Sophomore Marjan Veldic also collected All-MIAC singles and doubles recognition last season at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles with Vizoli. Veldic is currently 2-2 (1-1 MIAC) at the second singles spot and 1-3 (1-1 MIAC) at No. 2 doubles.

hosts Hamline on Saturday (March 8) before hosting SJU on Sunday.

LAST SPRING: The Johnnies suffered a heartbreaking, 5-4 loss to St. Olaf last April 13 at the outdoor Chang Tennis Complex in Collegeville. Five of the six singles matches were decided by the super-breaker, of which three went to the Oles. SJU won the first set in all five matches. The match was the first for SJU outdoors in Collegeville since May 4, 2022.

The tandem of Will Deters '24 and Draeger provided the lone doubles win for SJU at No. 3, 8-1. Wolden and Daniel Perez '24recorded the Johnnies' super-breaker victories at Nos. 3 (6-4, 1-6, 10-6) and 4 (7-5, 1-6, 11-9).

Will nearly won his match at No. 1 in straight sets, but lost the second with an 8-6 tie-breaker and a 10-4 decision in the super-breaker. Mason Meyer '24 was edged 10-7 in the super-breaker at No. 5 and Mark Rosen '24 fell with a 12-10 score in his at No. 6. Ian Aadland '24 came out victorious in the only singles match decided in straight sets at No. 2 (6-3, 6-2).

SERIES HISTORY: SJU holds a narrow 24-23 edge against the Oles since 1981, including a 3-1 record in Owatonna. The Johnnies have won seven of the last eight meetings overall.