Eagles, Saints win to set up UMAC men's tournament championship rematch
ST. PAUL, Minn.---In the last few years, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's tennis tournament has come down to the College of St. Scholastica and the University of Northwestern with the champions Saints usually cruising to victory. However, in the one regular season meeting in 2018 St. Schoalstica was challenged and won just 6-3, which sets up for an intriguing championship match as No. 1 St. Scholastica and No. 2 Northwestern both won semifinals Wednesday night.
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Tournament Site |
Semifinal 1 |
Semifinal 2 |
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 4 Bethany Lutheran, 9-0 |
Box Score |
No. 4 Bethany Lutheran has become a mainstay in the UMAC postseason tournament, but knew pulling of a win wouldn't be easy against a solid No. 1 St. Scholastica squad. Using home court advantage, the top-seeded Saints defeated the Vikings 9-0 to move into the championship match Saturday with a shot at the postseason title and an NCAA automatic bid on the line.
Jake Jalowsky and Connor Croft started off the Saints' 3-0 sweep of doubles with a shutout 8-0 win at the No. 3 spot before Bryce Gadke and Jack Kearney took No. 2 doubles 8-1. Serhii Tykhonenko and Elliot Schneider also made quick work of the Vikings with a 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles.
With a 3-0 lead, the Saints continued to cruise in singles competition with Jalowsky earning a perfect 6-0, 6-0 win at the No. 6 position. Tykhonenko grabbed a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles, while Schneider went 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Kearney picked up a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles. Trace Combs battled for a solid 6-4, 6-4 decision at the No. 4 spot and Gadke escaped with a 7-5 second-set win after taking the first set 6-1 to seal the No. 3 singles win.
With the win, the Saints advance to Saturday's match and improve to 9-9 overall this season. the Vikings finish 9-12 overall.
No. 2 Northwestern def. No. 3 Wisconsin-Superior, 8-1 |
Box Score |
With the stakes higher than ever in the postseason tournament, No. 2 Northwestern knew it would have to work for a win against newcomer No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Superior after winning in a solid 7-2 match in the regular season. The Eagles managed to again emerge victorious to set up a rematch with the rival Saints thanks to a 8-1 effort Wednesday.
The Eagles opened up with impressive wins in doubles as the No. 1 team of CJ Lloyd and Landon Ridpath scored a 8-0 shutout and No. 2 pair Josh Kimball and Davis Pfaff took an 8-1 win. At No. 3 doubles, Cameron Fair and Spencer Deveau earned a hard-fought 8-4 win to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead going into singles.
Ridpath cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles to start off the Eagles' success in individual matches. The match-clinching win came from Pfaff who took the No. 5 spot 6-2, 6-3. Lloyd picked up an impressive win at the No. 1 position 6-1, 6-1, while Fair added a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles. Kimball earned the fifth-straight set win for the Eagles at the No. 3 spot with a 6-3, 6-4 decision.
The Eagles improve to 12-10 overall this season, while the inaugural year for the Yellowjackets concludes with a 10-7 mark. With wins Wednesday, St. Scholastica and Northwestern will meet for the conference tournament final match at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Longview Tennis Club in Duluth.
Playoff Schedule
Semifinal Matches - Wednesday, May 2 (Weather Make up, Thursday, May 3)
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 4 Bethany Lutheran,9-0 |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
BLC Recap |
No. 2 Northwestern def. No. 3 Wisconsin-Superior, 8-1 |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
UWS Recap |
Championship Match - Saturday, May 5
No. 2 Northwestern at No. 1 St. Scholastica, 1 p.m., Duluth, Minn. (Longview Tennis Club)
Event Information
All matches will be held at the location of the highest seed. There will be no charge for admission to the UMAC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships for 2018.
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 Twitter and Instagram using #UMACchamp.
2018 Tournament Page