The Gustavus Adolphus College men’s tennis team claimed its fourth Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Indoor Championship with a thrilling 5-4 win over number one seed and defending champion UC-Santa Cruz on Sunday, Feb. 24.
The Gusties picked up victories in two doubles matches and three singles matches to compile the five points necessary to win the match. The tournament was played at the Swanson Tennis Center on the campus of Gustavus.
Gustavus jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play as juniors Mike Burdakin and John Kauss defeated Max Liberty-Point and Ilya Gendelman 8-4 at the number two doubles position and juniors Ben Tomasek and Nick Hansen defeated Max Ortiz and Colin Mark-Griffin 8-2 at the number three position. UC-Santa Cruz claimed one doubles point when Jared Kamel and Marc Vartabedian defeated senior Andy Bryan and junior Charlie Paukert 8-4 in the number one doubles match.
In singles play, Kauss defeated Ortiz 6-2, 6-4 at the number two position to give the Gusties a 3-1 lead. UC-Santa Cruz’s Mark-Griffin defeated Burdakin 6-4, 6-4 at the number three position to cut the lead to 3-2. Gustavus pushed its lead back to two points at 4-2, when Bryan won a gruelling two-and-a-half hour match over Kamel 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 at the number one position. The Gusties picked up the decisive fifth point when Tomasek defeated Vartabedian 6-1, 6-3 at the number five position.
Gustavus claims its fourth ITA Division III Team Indoor Title in the eight-year history of the tournament (2002, 2003, 2006, 2008). The other four titles have been won by UC-Santa Cruz (2001, 2007) and Emory (2004, 2005). The Gusties defeated the sixth seed Trinity (7-2), in the quarterfinals, and the second seed Emory (6-3) in the semifinals.
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