Notables
-Victory was HC Patten's 300^th coaching the men's program
-UNW defeated the Saints 5-4 in last year's UMAC Tournament championship
-18^th UMAC Tournament title all-time

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DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's tennis team will make its first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance next week after defeating the University of Northwestern (Minn.) 8-1 on Saturday at the Longview Tennis Club to capture the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship.
 
Doubles
Like they did last week in the regular season finale against the Eagles, the Saints got off to a good start, sweeping all three doubles matches. The No. 1 team of Serhii Tykhonenko (Kiev, Ukraine/Lyceum #100 "Podil") and Rafa Gonzalez (La Libertad, El Salvador/FESA) won 8-2.
 
That was followed by the No. 2 team of Elliot Schneider (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) and Jake Jolowsky (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS) winning by an 8-3 margin. The No. 3 team of Anton Sopin (Saratov, Russia/Gymnasium #8 (Tabor College)) and Jack Kearney (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS) completed the doubles sweep with an 8-5 victory.
 
Singles
The Saints kept it going in singles play. Sopin's match at the No. 4 spot was the first to finish with a 6-0, 6-2 win. Schneider then clinched the title for the Saints with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph at the No. 2 spot.
 
Gonzalez was forced to a third set super-breaker at the No. 3 spot, but prevailed 6-2, 2-6, (10-2). Tykhonenko had to rally from a set down to win at the No. 1 spot by scores of 4-6, 6-4, (10-4).
 
The final winner on the day was Jolowsky at the No. 6 position, also in a super-breaker, by scores of 6-3, 4-6, (10-4).
 
Patten's 300^th Win
The win not only gave the Saints their first NCAA Division III Tournament berth, but it was also Head Coach Wells Patten's 300^th win coaching the men's program at St. Scholastica.
 
Up Next
The Saints (14-7) will find out who and where they will be playing next week when the NCAA Division III Tournament field is posted on NCAA.com Monday morning.