Top-seeded men's teams advance to UMAC tennis final
MINNEAPOLIS---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men’s tennis postseason tournament got off to a thrilling with the top two teams in No. 1 College of St. Scholastica and No. 2 University of Northwestern-St. Paul emerging victorious Friday evening at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center.
The No. 1 Saints downed the No. 4 seed Martin Luther College 9-0 while No. 2 Northwestern used an 8-1 decision to take down No. 3 Bethany Lutheran College to set the stage for an exciting clash in the championship match Saturday.
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Tournament Site |
Semifinal One |
Semifinal One |
No. 1 St. Scholastica defeats No. 4 Martin Luther, 9-0
The No. 1-seeded Saints made quick work of the No. 4-seeded Knights to capture their 11th-striaght victory. The Saints took all three doubles matches by a score of 8-1 with Josh Stainer and Logan Engelstad winning at No. 1 doubles, Bryce Gadke and Mike Fontana at No. 2 doubles and Trace Combs and Jordan Lindholm at No. 3 doubles.
The singles matches played out in much the same fashion with Englested picking up the Saints’ lone 6-0, 6-0 decision at No. 2 singles. Fontana was just as impressive going 6-0, 6-1 over Josh Koelpin at No. 3 singles, while Matt Tellander took No. 6 singles 6-1, 6-0 and Stainer gained a win at No. 1 singles by the same score.
Gadke battled for a win at No. 4 singles with a 6-1, 6-4 decision, while Lindholm was challenged by Ethan Schultz at No. 5 singles. Lindholm took the first set 6-2, but had fight for a 6-4 win in the second set.
With the victory, the Saints advance to the title match and improve to 15-6 overall this season.
No. 2 Northwestern defeats No. 3 Bethany Lutheran, 8-1
Taking down No. 3 Bethany Lutheran wasn't as easy as it may have appeared for No. 2 Northwestern. The Eagles were forced to battle in doubles for the clean sweep. At the No. 1 spot CJ Lloyd and Brett Jacobus fought for an 8-5 win, while Joshua Kimball and Cameron Fair had to work for an 8-3 win at the No. 3 position. Landon Ridpath and Derek Williams picked up a good 8-2 in at No. 2 doubles.
In singles play, Kimball had the quickest win going 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles and was followed by Ridpath who went 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Williams fought for a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles, while Jacobus was pushed in his 6-0, 6-3 win at the No. 2 spot.
The Vikings picked up their lone win at No. 6 singles with Jason Buechler taking the deicsion 6-1,6-2. The No. 1 singles match was hard fought late into the match as Lloyd took the opening set 6-0 over Brent Heflin before falling 6-2 in the second. Lloyd emerged victorious taking the tiebreaking third set 10-5.
With the win, the Eagles advance to the championship Saturday and move to 13-14 overall on the season.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the UMAC Men’s Tennis Tournament page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on
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Playoff Schedule
Semifinal Matches – Friday, May 6.
No. 1 St. Scholastica defeats No. 4 Martin Luther 9-0 |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
MLC Recap |
No. 2 Northwestern defeats No. 3 Bethany Lutheran 8-1 |
Box Score | UNW Recap |
BLC Recap |
Championship – Saturday, May 7
No. 1 St. Scholastica vs. No. 2 Northwestern, 1:30 p.m.
2016 Tournament Page