Saint John's tennis travels for two matches this weekend, beginning with a noon matchup with Hamline on Saturday, April 5, at InnerCity Tennis in Minneapolis. The Johnnies then travel to Fargo, N.D., to take on Concordia-Moorhead at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at Courts Plus.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (5-5, 1-2 MIAC) split a pair of MIAC matches last weekend at Sta-Fit in Sartell.

Bethel 6, Saint John's 3 (March 29)
The Royals gained a 2-1 lead after doubles competition and won four of the six singles matches. Seniors Cooper Anderson (St. Paul, Minn./White Bear Lake) and Ryan Will (Northfield, Minn.) recorded the lone doubles win for SJU at No. 1, 8-6. The Royals scored the match's final five points to top junior Taylor Duncan (Benson, Minn.) and freshman Cole Haabala (Alexandria, Minn.) with an 8-6 score at No. 3 and BU posted an 8-0 shutout at No. 2.

Sophomore Sam Wolden (St. Louis Park, Minn.) picked up a straight-set victory at No. 2 singles (6-2, 6-4), moving to 6-3 (2-0 MIAC) on the year, and classmate Alex Draeger (Litchfield, Minn.) won his eighth-straight match at No. 6 (6-4, 6-0).

Saint John's 6, Macalester 3 (March 30)
The victory snapped a five-match skid for the Johnnies against the Scots going back to their last win in the series – also a 6-3 decision – on April 21, 2018, in White Bear Lake.

Draeger and Wolden prevailed at No. 2 doubles – 8-7 – thanks to a 7-1 decision in the tie-breaker. Anderson and Will suffered a loss at No. 1 with a near-identical score (8-7/7-1), but Duncan and Haabala gave SJU a 2-1 lead with an 8-3 win at No. 3.

The Johnnies clinched the dual victory with wins at Nos. 2-5 singles. Wolden improved to 7-3 (3-0 MIAC) on the year at No. 2 (6-0, 6-2), while Anderson gutted out the win at No. 3 via the super-breaker: 2-6, 6-3, 10-8. Duncan was victorious at No. 4 (6-4, 7-5) and Draeger moved up season record to 12-1 (3-0 MIAC) in his first match at No. 5 (6-3, 6-2).

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (4-7, 1-3 MIAC) is coming off a 7-2 over Saint Mary's last Saturday (March 29) in Winona. The Pipers return two All-MIAC doubles selections from last season in graduate students Rumeal Setts and Elijah Krause. Setts, a former Hamline assistant coach, is currently 6-3 (2-2 MIAC) at the top singles spot and is also 6-3 at No. 1 doubles with most of those matches being with junior Tyler Rousslang. Krause is currently 2-2 at No. 3 singles and 2-2 at No. 4.

A YEAR AGO: The Johnnies opened their 2024 season with a 6-3 win over Hamline last Feb. 24 (2024) at Sta-Fit. HU gained a 2-1 lead at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, but the Johnnies won five of the six singles matches for the victory.

Will Deters '24 and Draeger denied the Pipers a doubles sweep with an 8-6 win at No. 3. Will played his first match at No. 1 singles and earned the win via the super-breaker. He dropped the first set 6-2, but bounced back with a 7-6 (7-2) victory in the second and posted a 10-4 score in the super-breaker.

The other four SJU singles wins were in straight sets: Wolden at No. 3; Daniel Perez '24 at No. 4; Mason Meyer '24 at No. 5; and Mark Rosen '24 at No. 6.

SJU's lone singles loss was Ian Aadland '24 via the super-breaker at No. 2.
    
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 35-4 against the Pipers going back to 1979, including wins in each of the last 18 matches.

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (5-8, 2-5 MIAC) visits Northwestern Saturday before returning home to host SJU. The Cobbers have won each of their last four matches, including victories over  Wisconsin-Superior (4-3, March 29) and St. Scholastica (5-4, March 30). CC returns junior Kai Pierce, who is a two-time All-MIAC selection in singles play. He is 5-8 overall (3-4 MIAC) this season at singles, mostly at No. 4, and is 4-8 overall (2-5 MIAC) in doubles.

LAST SEASON: The Johnnies earned a 7-2 win over Concordia last April 7 (2024) in Sartell. SJU was down 2-1 after doubles competition but swept all six singles matches, including two via the super-breaker.
 
The Cobbers posted 8-5 and 8-3 wins at Nos. 1-2 doubles, respectively, before Deters and Draeger put SJU on the scoreboard with an 8-4 decision at No. 3.

Will won his first set at No. 1 singles 6-3 but dropped his second with a 6-2 score. He battled back with a nail-biting 12-10 victory in the super-breaker.

Meyer suffered a narrow 7-6 (7-5) defeat in his first set at No. 5, but clawed back with a 6-0 shutout in the second and a 10-8 decision in the super-breaker.

The other four Johnnies posted single-set wins: Aadland at No. 2 (6-4, 7-5); Wolden at No. 3 (6-3, 6-0); Perez at No. 4 (6-2, 6-2); and Rosen at No. 6 (6-3, 6-2).

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 37-10 against CC since 1981, including a 13-5 record in the Fargo-Moorhead area.