Duluth, Minn. – The Saint Scholastica men's tennis team hosted today's tennis match against the Royals of Bethel University. The Saints lost to the Royals by one point, finishing with a final score of 5-4. 

How it Happened

Doubles
Jonas Abeleda (Sydney, Australia/St Aloysius' College) and Eamon Gerrard-Stace (Brisbane, Au./St Joseph's Nudgee College) along with Jack Onkka (Thief River Falls, Minn./) and Dane Patten (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) both captured victory in their doubles matches. Abeleda and Gerrard-Stace, who competed at No. 1 doubles came out on top, finishing 8-4. Onkka and D. Patten competed in the No. 2 doubles match. They too bested the Royals, finishing with a score of 8-3. 

Reece Patten (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) and Alex Daigneault (Agua Dulce, Calif./Hart HS) competed at No. 3 doubles. They came close to victory, rounding out their match 6-8. 

Singles
D. Patten and Gerrard-Stace were the two Saints to achieve victory in the singles matches for the Saints. D. Patten was the first Saint to claim a singles win. Competing at No. 2 singles, he finished with scores of 7-5 and 6-3. Gerrard-Stace, who competed at No. 3 singles also achieved success, finishing with scores of 6-4 in both sets. 

Abeleda and Onkka both forced a third set in their match but fell short. Abeleda ended his three sets with scores of 3-6, 6-4, and 0-1. Onkka ended with scores of 2-6, 6-4 and 0-1. 

Harper Dircks (Hopkins, Minn./) and Andy Shaffer (Buffalo, Minn./) both made their first appearances of the day, and both failed to achieve success in their matches. Dircks ended with scores of 2-6 in both of his sets. Shaffer finished 2-6 and 3-6 in his two sets. 

What's Next
The Saints (6-5, 2-2 MIAC) will travel west, to Fargo, ND. to play the Cobbers (3-8, 1-5 MIAC) in a MIAC Conference match. This match will be on Sunday, March 30 and is scheduled for 12 p.m.