< making the short jaunt across town, the No. 38-ranked Carleton College men’s tennis team returned home with a 9-0 victory over rival St. Olaf College. That result clinched a berth for the Knights in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs.
Carleton improved to 21-2 overall on the season (7-0 MIAC), the program’s second-most regular-season wins since 2002 and tied for the second-most overall victories over that same span.
Lewis White (Jr./Minneapolis, Minn./Breck) and Christof Zweifel (So./Northfield, Minn./Northfield) remained undefeated as a pairing with their 8-2 victory at third doubles, while Carleton broke out new combinations for the other two doubles matches but found the same level of success.
Sophomores Xander Zuczek (Westerly, R.I./St. Bernard) and Leo Vithoontien (Bangkok, Thailand/Bangkok Patana School) teamed up for the first time in their careers and prevailed 8-5 at first doubles. Aaron Goodman (Sr./Minneapolis, Minn./St. Louis Park) and Jonas Lindholm-Uzzi (Jr./Germantown, N.Y./Red Hook) combined forces for the first time this season and notched an 8-3 victory at the second slot.
Singles also saw a new look from head coach Stephan Zweifel’s crew as Xander Roti (Fy./Locust Valley, N.Y./Friends Academy) made his debut at first singles with a splash, registering a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Roti improved to a team-best 19-1 in dual matches this year.
“Roti’s devastating combination of artistry and slapping forehands was on full display this afternoon,” Zweifel said. “Most players in the conference would rather face the Night King than Roti.”
Jordon O’Kelly (Sr./Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) was shutout in the first set but recovered quickly and captured his match at second singles by a 0-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4) tally.
White, Sahil Chhugani (Jr./Rochester, Minn./Century), Lindholm-Uzzi, and Johnny Reichman (Sr./Shavano Park, Texas/Clark) added straight set victories to complete the sweep.
White moved to 6-0 in conference play, tied for tops on the roster. Chhugani and Reichmann are now 5-0 versus MIAC opponents, and Lindholm is 6-1 overall and 4-1 in conference matches.