Monday, 04/06/2009

John Kauss, Mike Burdakin, and the Gustavus men's tennis team played Pomona-Pitzer College and three of the top-ranked NCAA III teams on their recent California trip.  Those teams included #4 University of California-Santa Cruz, #5 Williams College, and #8 Redlands University.  Gustavus beat Pomona but lost to the other three.  The best match was a 5-4 loss to Santa Cruz, the same team that the Gusties had defeated 5-4 at the National Indoor.  The different outcome between the two matches came at #3 doubles, where Santa Cruz edged Gustavus 8-6.  At the National Indoor the Gusties had swept all three doubles.

While the team lost John Kauss and Mike Burdakin continued their winning ways.  John was 3-0 in singles while Mike was 4-0.   The Kauss/Burdakin team was 2-1 in doubles.  A tie-breaker loss to Redlands University was their first Division III doubles defeat of the season.

Injuries have hampered the team.  Kevin Stickney, a key player at #3 doubles and #4 singles, has been out with a shoulder injury since March 8.    Also, John Kauss nearly had a season ending injury.  He and Mike Burdakin both swung at the same overhead, and Mike's racket caught John squarely on the wrist.  It swelled to twice the normal size and kept John from playing against Williams.  Fortunately no bones were broken and John was able to play in three matches on the spring trip.

Now Gustavus turns its attention to two more top ten NCAA teams.  On Saturday, April 4 the Gusties go against Kenyon College, ranked #9 in the latest poll.  At #1 they have Mike Greenberg, the defending NCAA III singles champion.  This will be a good challenge for John Kauss, the current ITA national singles champion.  If the 10th ranked Gusties can beat Kenyon they will face Washington University, the defending NCAA III national champions, on Sunday.  Both matches will be played at the Pleasant Valley Tennis Club near Milwaukee.  The facility is owned and managed by John Gambucci, former Gustavus tennis star who graduated in 1981.

While part of the team goes to Milwaukee other players are going to Dubuque and Waverly, Iowa for three matches.  The Gusties face Loras at 10 a.m. in Dubuque on Saturday.  They travel to Waverly on Sunday to face Wartburg College at 10 a.m. and Knox College at 1 p.m.  The team will stay in Dubuque at the homes of Theo Roth and Peter Wright.

GUSTAVUS  8    POMONA-PITZER 1             Pomona, CA, March 23, 2009
1) John Kauss (GA) def. Cameron Taylor (P) 6-3, 6-4
2) Charlie Paukert (GA) def. Tommy Meyer (P) 6-4, 1-6, 10-7
3) Mike Burdakin (GA) def. Nick Tagliarino (P) 6-0, 6-0
4) Uday Singh (P) def. Ben Tomasek (GA) 6-3, 6-1
5) Pat Clark (GA) def. Alex Groth (P) 6-4, 6-2
6) Nick Hansen (GA) def. Ramsey Bernard (P) 6-1, 6-1

1) John Kauss/Mike Burdakin (GA) def. Cameron Taylor/Uday Singh (P) 8-2
2) Ben Tomasek/Charlie Paukert (GA) def. Alex Groth/Drew Cohn (P) 8-4
3) Nick Hansen/David Koppel (GA) def. Ramsey Bernard/Grant Friedman (P) 8-6



GUSTAVUS   2   WILLIAMS COLLEGE 7       Pomona, CA, March 24, 2009
1) Nick Lebedoff (W) def. Charlie Paukert (GA) 6-2, 7-6(1)
2) Mike Burdakin (GA) def. Jeremy Weinberger (W) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
3) Rick Devlin (W) def. Ben Tomasek (GA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
4) Will Petrie (W) def. Patrick Clark (GA) 6-3, 6-2
5) Kevin Shallcross (W) def. Nick Hansen (GA) 6-4, 6-1
6) Karol Furmaga (W) def. Ryan Hallsten (GA) 6-0, 6-4
Exhibition: Ari Binder (W) def. David Koppel (GA) 8-3
       Dicken Chaplin (W) def. Matt Nelson (GA) 8-3

1) Charlie Paukert/Ben Tomasek (GA) def. Bret Thacher/Dicken Chaplin (W) 8-5
2) Nick Lebedoff/Will Petrie (W) def. Mike Burdakin/Dave Koppel (GA) 9-8(3)
3) Jeremy Weinberger/Kevin Shallcross (W) def. Nick Hansen/Pat Clark (GA) 8-3
Ehibition: Ari Binder/Rick Devlin (W) def. Matt Nelson/Brooks Stapleton (GA) 8-4

GUSTAVUS 2     UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS 7     Redlands, GA, March 25, 2009
1) John Kauss (GA) def. Cameron Spearman (R) 6-3, 6-1
2) Michael Reading (R) def. Charlie Paukert (GA) 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 10-5
3) Mike Burdakin (GA) def. Matt Liebman (R) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
4) Chris Trippel (R) def. Ben Tomasek (GA) 6-4, 6-4
5) Aron Ouye (R) def. Pat Clark (GA) 6-2, 6-3
6) Jeff Hammond (R) def. Ryan Hallsten (GA) 6-2, 6-0
Exhibition: Keven Wong (R) def. Nick Hansen (GA) 6-0, 6-4
               Dave Koppel (GA) def. Casey Fashouer (R) 7-5, 6-0

1) Michael Reading/Cameron Spearman (R) def. Mike Burdakin/John Kauss (GA) 9-8(2)
2) Jeff Hammond/Keven Wong (R) def. Charlie Paukert/Ben Tomasek (GA) 9-8(3)
3) Chris Trippel/Casey Fashouer (R) def. Nick Hansen/Dave Koppel (GA) 8-5


GUSTAVUS  4   UC-SANTA CRUZ 5      Azusa, CA, March 26, 2009
1) John Kauss (GA) def. Max Liberty-Poin (UCSC) 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-5
2) Jared Kamel (UCSC) def. Charlie Paukert (GA) 6-1, 6-0
3) Mike Burdakin (GA) def. Max Ortiz (UCSC) 6-7(7), 6-2, 10-3
4) Ilya Gendelman (UCSC) def. Ben Tomasek 6-3, 6-2
5) Colin Mark-Griffin (UCSC) def. Pat Clark (GA) 6-0, 6-2
6) Marc Vartabedian (UCSC) def. Ryan Hallsten (GA) 6-1, 6-0

1) John Kauss/Mike Burdakin (GA) def. Jared Kamel/Marc Vartabedian (UCSC) 8-4
2) Charlie Paukert/Ben Tomasek (GA) def. Max Liberty-Point/Ilya Gendelman (UCSC) 8-6
3) Max Ortiz/Colin Mark-Griffin (UCSC) def. Nick Hansen/Dave Koppel (GA) 8-6