Saint John's tennis visits Carleton for its season finale at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 27, in Northfield.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (8-8, 3-5 MIAC) battled to three singles wins via the super-breaker to claim a 6-3 victory – the team's third in a row – over St. Scholastica last Thursday (April 17) at Sta-Fit. The match was originally scheduled for outdoors at the Chang Tennis Complex in Collegeville but was moved indoors this morning due to the rain forecast for later today.

Sparked by an 8-7 (7-4) win from seniors Cooper Anderson (St. Paul, Minn./White Bear Lake) and Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) at No. 1, the Johnnies gained a 2-1 lead after doubles competition. Down 7-5, the duo responded with two-straight points to force the tie-breaker where they recorded the set's first four points en route to a 7-4 victory.

Junior Taylor Duncan (Benson, Minn.) and freshman Cole Haabala (Alexandria, Minn.) tallied SJU's second doubles point with an 8-4 win at No. 3.

Sophomore Sam Wolden (St. Louis Park, Minn.) improved to 11-3 (6-1 MIAC) at No. 2 with a straight-set victory, 6-1 and 7-6 (7-4).

Sophomore Alex Draeger (Litchfield, Minn.) started the string of three super-breaker wins at No. 4. He won his first set 6-2, fell by a 7-5 score in the second and broke an 8-8 stalemate with the final two points for a 10-8 margin in the super-breaker. Draeger is now 16-3 (6-2 MIAC) in singles competition. 

Duncan dropped his first set at No. 5, 6-3, bounced back with a 6-3 win of his own and then took the match with an 11-9 score. He trailed 9-8 in the breaker but scored the final three points for the victory.

Junior Josh Peterson (Perham, Minn.) mirrored Duncan's scores at No. 6, except he won his first match 6-3, fell 6-3 in the second and notched an 11-9 victory in the super-breaker thanks to a dramatic finish. He was down 9-6 but scored the last five points to close the match and earn his 10th win of the season (10-6 record).

The Saints won at Nos. 1 and 3 singles in straight sets.

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (14-3, 6-1 MIAC) is coming off its first conference loss to nationally ranked Gustavus Adolphus 7-2 last Saturday (April 19) in Northfield. The Knights return three All-MIAC selections from last season. Sophomore Baiyun Jing and junior Jack Rivkin earned the honor in both singles and doubles competition, while sophomore Jasper Yang joined them on the singles team. Jing is currently 9-6 at the top singles spot and 11-5, primarily at No. 2 doubles, this spring. Rivkin is 5-2 in singles play (Nos. 4, 5, and 6) and 10-6 at No. 1 doubles. Yang is 13-2 in singles, the majority at No. 2, and 4-0 at doubles. Carleton visits Hamline Saturday before hosting SJU Sunday in the regular-season finale.

LAST SPRING: Saint John's tennis ended the 2024 season with an 8-1 loss to regionally ranked Carleton last April 28 at Sta-Fit in Sartell.

The tandem of Will Deters '24 and Draeger provided the lone win, their sixth-consecutive, for SJU at No. 3 doubles, 8-6. The duo finished with an 8-6 record in dual-meet competition, including a 6-2 mark in conference play.

Ian Aadland '24 and Wolden suffered an 8-5 defeat at No. 2 doubles. 

The Knights, who were listed at No. 5 in the NCAA Region VII rankings at the time, swept the six singles matches in straight sets.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 11-33 record against the Knights since 1984, including a 6-17 record at Carleton. SJU has lost 25 straight to Carleton since its last win on April 6, 2002, in Collegeville (6-3).