Men's Tennis season ends with semifinal loss at MIACs

W, 5-4;L, 0-9
Bethel (M); GAC (M), May 02, 2009

The sixth-seeded Tommie men's tennis team had its season end Saturday with a 9-0 loss to No. 10-ranked Gustavus in a semifinal match at the MIAC tournament in St. Peter.

UST (13-8) played without one of its top two players, injured Tyler Rice. The Toms lost 8-5 at third doubles with Dan Cooper and Andrew Michels. Cooper, Michels and Kevin Walker also had good battles In singles but all lost in straight sets.

Gustavus (25-8) later cruised past St. Olaf to to win the tournament and claim the NCAA automatic berth.

Gustavus 9, UST 0

Singles

1. John Kauss (GAC) def. Phillip Hanke (UST-MEN) 6-0, 6-1

2. Mike Burdakin (GAC) def. Andrew Michels (UST-MEN) 6-3, 6-3

3. Charlie Paukert (GAC) def. Kevin Walker (UST-MEN) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)

4. Ben Tomasek (GAC) def. Andrew Carlson (UST-MEN) 6-1, 6-2

5. Patrick Clark (GAC) def. Dan Cooper (UST-MEN) 7-5, 6-1

6. Nick Hansen (GAC) def. Matthew Bergstrom (UST-MEN) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles

1. Mike Burdakin/John Kauss (GAC) def. Phillip Hanke/Kevin Walker (UST-MEN) 8-2

2. Charlie Paukert/Ben Tomasek (GAC) def. Andrew Carlson/Matthew Bergstrom (UST-MEN) 8-0

3. Patrick Clark/David Koppel (GAC) def. Andrew Michels/Dan Cooper (UST-MEN) 8-5

Friday match

The sixth-seeded Tommie men's tennis team surprised third-seed Bethel, 5-4, in Friday's quarterfinal match at the MIAC tournament in St. Peter. The Tommies avenged a 5-4 loss to the Royals from March.

UST (13-7) has now won nine of its last 11 matches and advances to play top-seed Gustavus in Saturday's 9 a.m. semifinal round.

The Tommies won three of four close matches to pull out the win. Andy Michels and Kevin Walker won three-set battles at Nos. 2-3 singles, and Michels and Drew Carlson won 9-8 at third doubles.

St. Thomas 5, Bethel University 4

Singles
1. Tom Ronning (BU-MT) def. Phillip Hanke (UST-MEN) 6-1, 6-1
2. Andrew Michels (UST-MEN) def. David Torres (BU-MT) 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (13-11)
3. Kevin Walker (UST-MEN) def. Kent Nichols (BU-MT) 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (11-9)
4. Joel Cassens (BU-MT) def. Dan Cooper (UST-MEN) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
5. Jordan LeFebvre (BU-MT) def. Andrew Carlson (UST-MEN) 6-3, 6-3
6. Matthew Bergstrom (UST-MEN) def. Jordan McIver (BU-MT) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles
1. Tom Ronning/Kent Nichols (BU-MT) def. Phillip Hanke/Kevin Walker (UST-MEN) 9-7
2. Tyler Rice/Dan Cooper (UST-MEN) def. David Torres/Jordan McIver (BU-MT) 8-3
3. Andrew Michels/Andrew Carlson (UST-MEN) def. Joel Cassens/Jordan LeFebvre (BU-MT) 9-8 (7-4)