<th the men’s and women’s tennis teams ended their seasons last weekend at the MIAC conference tournament. Played at Gustavus Adolphus College, the tournament hosts the top six teams from the conference. The winner, which, for at least the past fifteen years has been Gustavus in both men’s and women’s competition, receives an automatic spot in the regional tournament.
The Carleton women, seeded sixth, began play on Friday against Macalester College. Though the Knights had gone down hard the last time they faced Mac, some match format changes and indoor courts had Carleton ready to get some.
In doubles, Lisa Ottum ’08 and Emily Ho ’09 dominated at the third position, while Carleton’s first and second teams suffered close losses. Going into singles, the Knights needed four of the six possible remaining points to win the match and earn a spot against Gustavus in the semi-finals.
Carleton’s Hannah Goldberg ’10 was off the court in no time with a 6-3, 6-0 win at fourth singles. Devin Daugherty ’11 added another point after pulling out a tough tiebreak in the first set and then cruising to a 7-6, 6-1 victory at sixth singles. As the match wore on, Ottum rallied for an awe-inspiring comeback at third singles to win in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 10-5. Carleton fell short, however, as the rest of the singles players lost in hard fought battles. So, with a 5-4 loss, the women ended their season.
The men’s team began play on Saturday, after taking Friday off with a bye into the semi-finals. As the second seed, the men had to beat Bethel University in order to get another crack at Gustavus in the finals.
Against Bethel, the men started out strong in doubles. Kartheek Koneru ’08 and Peter Varnum ’08 blanked their opponents at second doubles, 8-0. Brendan Cooper ’08 and Julian Tokarev ’09 followed suit at third doubles with an 8-3 victory.
Three wins in singles would secure the Knight’s spot in the finals. At first singles, Colin Russell ’10 battled through a tough first set to win 7-6, 6-1. Koneru and Varnum added wins at second and fourth singles, respectively, setting up a rematch with Gustavus.
After lunch at Erbert’s and Gerbert’s, the men’s team returned to the courts recharged and ready to dismantle the sixth ranked team in the nation. Unfortunately, the tradition and firepower of Gustavus proved too much to handle, as Carleton lost 5-0.
Eight Carleton players earned All-MIAC honors. Frances Leung ’10 and Ottum were the women’s honorees, while Koneru, Winston Park ’10, Russell, Varnum, Cooper and Tokarev made the men’s squad. The men’s head coach, Stephen Zweifel also earned MIAC coach of the year for the fourth time.