St. Peter, Minnesota - The eighth-ranked
Trinity men's tennis team advanced to the NCAA Division III
Quarterfinals with a 5-3 third-round victory over 21st-ranked
Gustavus Adolphus College on Sunday afternoon.
Fifth-year Head Coach Russell McMindes' Tigers
(24-6) will meet second-ranked Washington University-St. Louis in
the quarterfinals on May 19 at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center at
Claremont, California. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College will host the
team finals through May 21.
After Trinity jumped out to a 4-1 lead,
Sunday's Regional final turned into quite a battle. The
Tigers opened with two doubles wins, as Charlie Curtis
and Clayton Niess won No. 3 doubles, and Jordan Mayer and Greg
Haugen rallied to take line two 9-8 (7-0).
Aaron Skinner (No. 4 line) and Mayer (No. 5)
scored singles wins, and Trinity widened the gap to 4-1. Gustavus
then started its comeback, winning No. 3 and No. 6 singles to make
it 4-3. Moreno lost in three sets at line three, while Curtis
fell in straight sets.
Deuel then stopped the rally with his hard-fought 7-6
(7-2), 7-6 (7-0) victory at the top line of singles. The
Tigers were trailing in the third set of the final singles match,
making Deuel's win even more important to the overall team
finish.
The Tigers had a first-round bye, then shut out
Grinnell College 5-0 in the second round on Saturday.
Trinity has advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the
second straight time, and fourth in the past five years under the
leadership of Coach McMindes. Overall, the Tigers will compete in
their 17th quarterfinal round, dating back to 1993. It also marks
Trinity's 21st foray into the NCAA Playoffs, highlighted by a
national title in 2000.