MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. / Milwaukee, Wis. — The Gustavus men's tennis team sent two squads for a pair of road matches Saturday, meeting Macalester in St. Paul and facing No. 6 University of Chicago for the second time this season in Milwaukee. The Gusties defeated Macalester 8-1 and fell to U Chicago 7-2.
The Gusties, who have undoubtedly dominated the MIAC this season, were met with their biggest conference challenge to date, as the Scots became the first MIAC team to win a point against the Gusties this season. The Gusties still toppled Macalester 8-1, defeating the Scots in the second and third doubles spots for their first MIAC defeat of the season.
"The entire team put together a strong effort today, said Head Coach Tommy Valentini. "Against a tough Macalester team, we played great doubles at 2 and 3 to grab the 2-1 lead. From there, the guys all showed great poise and stayed calm and present in the singles to pull away."
Against Chicago,
Alex Budde (Sr., Menomonee Falls, Wis.), who has played undefeated for his last four matches, got the Gusties their only points of the match, winning in the No. 6 spot for the singles with 6-3 and 7-6 victories. Budde and doubles partner
Gage Gohl (Fy., Sioux Falls, S.D.) defeated Chicago's second doubles pair, 8-3 for the other Gustie point.
"Against Chicago, we played fantastic at 2 doubles and had very good looks throughout at both 1 and 3. We came up a bit short to go down 1-2, but we made a great push in the singles. Coming down the wire we had a few three setters go the other way in the singles, but we competed with a lot of trust and toughness.
"We'll look to recover quickly and be ready for another series of very tough challenges tomorrow."
