 "Photo: Ben Hovland")
St. Olaf tennis proved it belongs among the MIAC’s upper-echelon programs over the weekend as both the men’s and women’s teams battled all the way to the conference championship match.
The men’s squad opened the weekend with a dominating 7-2 over St. John’s in a Friday quarterfinal match. The Oles raced out to a 3-0 lead in doubles play and cruised through singles to advance to a semifinal match up with Carleton. The Oles lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to the Knights two weeks earlier.
Saturday the men blazed out to a 3-0 doubles lead once again. “The time between doubles and singles is kind of the half-time of tennis,” Nick Peters ’10 said. “Going into singles knowing you only need two out of the six matches is really encouraging.”
However, Carleton mounted a comeback in singles play, tying the match at 4-4 with fifth singles still on the court. Spectators crowded as John Wight ’12 fought his way back into the match and forced a super tiebreaker. “It was literally as close as a team match can get with a lot of weight on a first-year’s shoulders,” Peters said.
Wight answered the challenge and won the tiebreaker 10-4, pushing the Oles to the MIAC title match against Gustavus.
The Gusties showed why they have 16-consecutive NCAA Nationals bids as they topped the Oles 8-1. Wight again battled back in his singles match to win another super tiebreaker for the Oles’ lone point.
The women’s team, playing right after the men’s matches, put on a show of their own, starting with an 8-1 thumping of Concordia which set up a rematch with Carleton.
The “windmeisters,” as Head Coach Scott Nesbit calls the team, harnessed Saturday’s blustery conditions against a highly skilled Carleton opponent. The drama unfolded as the Oles trailed 3-4 with Christine Muller ‘12 and Claire Carlson ’12 both playing in tight matches on adjacent courts.
Each player hit nearly-simultaneous match-winners but weren’t aware that St. Olaf won until the entire team rushed the courts in celebration. The intense victory set up a similar scenario that the men faced: a title match against a women’s Gustavus side that boasts 22-straight NCAA appearances.
The Oles fell 8-1 in the championship match with Claire Carlson winning a super tiebreaker at No. 4 singles. Nevertheless, “We could not have asked for a better weekend,” Aimee Ny ’10 said. “We’re still on cloud nine with our win against Carleton.”
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