College Tennis News - Gustavus edged by Kenyon, beats Loras

The top three men's tennis teams in the Midwest Region met last weekend in Milwaukee to determine who should be ranked number one. On Saturday #3 ranked Gustavus (ranked #10 nationally) met #2 ranked Kenyon College (ranked #9 nationally). The site was the Pleasant Valley Racket Club, owned by former Gustie player John Gambucci. The winner earned the right to play #1 ranked Washington University (ranked #2 nationally and the defending NCAA III champion.)

The match between Gustavus and Kenyon was extremely close. The Gusties took a 2-1 lead with wins at #1 and #2 doubles. John Kauss added a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Mike Greenberg, the defending NCAA III singles champion, making the score 3-1. Straight set losses by Pat Clark and Mike Burdakin put the score at 3-3, with Charlie Paukert, Ben Tomasek, and Nick Hansen all involved in three set matches. Unfortunately only Charlie pulled out a victory, leaving the Gusties on the short end of a 5-4 score.

The next day Kenyon lost to Washington University 7-2, leaving the Midwest Regional team ranking unchanged. Also John Kauss continues to be the top ranked singles player and Kauss/Burdakin the number one ranked doubles team in the Midwest Region.

Meanwhile other Gustie players traveled to Dubuque, Iowa to play Loras College. They swept all nine matches and then headed back to St. Peter in order to avoid a late season snowstorm that swept across Nebraska and Iowa. The storm fortunately missed St. Peter and southern Minnesota. Matches against Wartburg and Knox will need to be rescheduled.

On Thursday the team travels to Northfield to play Carleton at 4 p.m. This is a key contest in the push for another undefeated MIAC season. The conference record for Gustavus is now 6-0 and the season record is 18-8.

GUSTAVUS   4    KENYON   5               April 4, 2009, Milwaukee, WI
1) John Kauss (GA) def. Mike Greenberg (K) 6-2, 6-3
2) Tomas Piskacek (K) def. Mike Burdakin (GA) 6-4, 6-2
3) Charlie Paukert (GA) def. Charlie Brody (K) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
4) Jeremy Polster (K) def. Ben Tomasek (GA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
5) Will VandenBerg (K) def. Pat Clark (GA) 6-3, 7-5
6) Daniel Becker (K) def. Nick Hansen (GA) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
Exhibition: Dave Koppel (GA) def. Josh Stiles (K) 8-3
             Ashok Jethwa (GA) def. McNeil Parker (K) 8-6

1) John Kauss/Mike Burdakin (GA) def. Mike Greenberg/Will VandenBerg (K) 8-6
2) Ben Tomasek/Charlie Paukert (GA) def. Charlie Brody/Daniel Becker (K) 9-8(5)
3) Tomas Piskacek/Jeremy Polster (K) def. Nick Hansen/Dave Koppel (GA) 8-4

GUSTAVUS   9    LORAS   0               April 4, 2009, Dubuque, IA
1) Dan Pomeranc (GA) def. Joe Holguin (LOR) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
2) Ryan Hallsten (GA) def. Jared Levy (LOR) 6-0, 4-6, 10-0
3) Peter Wright (GA) def. Tom Strumpf (LOR) 6-0, 6-1
4) Theo Roth (GA) def. John Blesz (LOR) 6-1, 6-4
5) Krishan Jethwa (GA) def. Erik Becker (LOR) 6-0, 6-1
6) Caleb Kauss (GA) def. Digger Kurt (LOR) 6-3, 6-1

1) Eric Ice/Krishan Jethwa (GA) def. Jared Levy/Joe Holguin (LOR) 9-8(3)
2) Theo Roth/Peter Roth (GA) def. Adam Holland/Erik Becker (LOR) 8-0
3) Daniel Pomeranc/Brooks Stapleton (GA) def. Tom Strumpf/Nate DuBois (LOR) 8-4