DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's tennis team will close out the regular season this weekend with matches against Martin Luther College on Friday and the Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday.
Where:
Friday
MLC Tennis Courts – New Ulm, Minn.
Saturday
BLC Tennis Courts – Mankato, Minn.
When:
Friday at Martin Luther – 5 p.m.
Saturday at Bethany Lutheran – 2 p.m.
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSsaintstennis
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaintstennis
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/css.saints
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 16-1, 6-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints defeated the University of Northwestern (Minn.) 8-1 last Thursday in St. Paul to clinch at least a share of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season championship.
Ranked Regionally: For the first time in program history the Saints are ranked in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Poll, coming in at No. 20 … Also ranked is
Serhii Tykhonenko (Kiev, Ukraine/Lyceum #100 “Podil”) is singles as he is 24
th in the Central Region.
Eau Claire Match Canceled: The St. Scholastica match at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire that was postponed last week has now been canceled … The match would have featured the two regionally-ranked teams with Eau Claire ranked No. 19.
Where They Stand: The Saints have already clinched a share of their 21
st consecutive UMAC regular season title, but with one more victory can capture the championship outright … Northwestern and Bethany Lutheran are both two matches back in the loss column … Martin Luther is fourth.
Another Record for Engelstad: With his win last Thursday,
Logan Engelstad (Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln HS) became the winningest singles player in program history … He now holds program records for career singles wins (67) and total wins in a career (126) … He already holds the program record for most singles wins in a season (20) … However, with one more singles win he can match that mark this season … He is also one doubles win shy of becoming the first player in program history to record at least 60 singles wins and 60 doubles victories in a career … He has won 17 consecutive singles matches, which is also known to be a program record.
Freshmen Leaders: Outside of the senior Engelstad, freshmen
Serhii Tykhonenko (Kiev, Ukraine/Lyceum #100 “Podil”),
Ernesto Telles (El Salvador/Academia Britanica Cuscatleca) and
Brendan Boudreau (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate) are pacing the Saints at the top of the lineup … Tykhonenko has nine victories at the No. 1 singles spot and is 10-1 with Engelstad at No. 1 doubles … Telles is 11-1 at No. 2 singles and Boudreau is 13-1 at No. 3 singles … Telles and Boudreau are 7-2 at No. 2 doubles.
UMAC Win Streak: The Saints will enter the weekend having won 150 consecutive UMAC dual matches … The last conference loss took place on April 27, 1997.
Upcoming Opponents
Martin Luther Knights
Record: 2-6, 2-3 UMAC
The Knights are scheduled to face rival Bethany Lutheran College on Thursday before hosting the Saints on Friday … Both of Martin Luther's wins this season have come against the University of Minnesota Morris … Justin Steinke has two wins at No. 2 singles and Josh Koelpin has three victories at No. 4 singles … The Knights are 14-34 in singles and 9-15 in doubles this season.
Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Record: 8-10, 2-2 UMAC
The Vikings are hosting Martin Luther on Thursday and then the Saints on Saturday … Bethany Lutheran snapped a three-match losing streak with a 7-2 triumph over Martin Luther on April 11 … Andrew Jelken has five victories at No. 1 singles, while Carter Dahl has six wins at No. 4 singles … Jelken and Dalton Werckman have five wins at No. 1 doubles … Bethany is 44-64 in singles and 20-32 in doubles.
Series Record:
-CSS leads MLC 42-3
(Last Meeting: 7-2 CSS – 3/24/2017)
-CSS leads BLC 25-0
(Last Meeting: 8-1 CSS – 4/1/2017)
Series Histories: The Saints have won 42 straight matches against Martin Luther, including winning earlier this season 7-2 /// CSS has dropped only four individual matches all-time against Bethany Lutheran and one of those was earlier this season in Duluth.
Looking Ahead: The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament begins on Friday, May 5 at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
