ST. PETER, Minn. – Junior Jakub Belik and first year Henry Kruse of the St. Olaf College men's tennis team won the doubles title at the Midwest Open, as the Oles began their fall season at a pair of tournaments hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College last weekend.

Belik and Kruse won six-straight matches to win the draw of 64 in doubles at the Midwest Open, winning the championship match 11-9 in a super tiebreaker. Kruse also picked up a first-round singles victory in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Championships for the Oles.

Kruse was one of three Oles to compete in the ITA singles draw and edged Konnor Barth of Loras, 7-5, 7-6, in the opening round before falling in straight sets to No. 6 seed Luke Van Donslear of UW-Whitewater. Junior Henry Smith and first year Bogdan Vizoli also appeared in the draw and dropped their opening-round matches.

Smith and Vizoli were the lone St. Olaf tandem in the ITA doubles draw and picked up an 8-7 (1) win in their first-round match before falling by an 8-5 margin to a tandem from Carleton College in the round of 32.

Three Oles won at least one singles match in the Midwest Open, led by Belik's third-round appearance. The junior won his first two matches before going out to eventual champion Jared Lawatsch of UW-Eau Claire. First year David Azcona and junior Karsten Johnson also won their first-round matches before bowing out in round two.

Belik and Kruse won each of their first five matches by at least three games to advance to the final, where they met Aniketh Vipparla and Cooper Kline of Carleton. The St. Olaf duo cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set before dropping the second set, 6-3, but bounced back to win a tight super tiebreaker, 11-9, to claim the title.

The tournaments wrapped up the abbreviated fall for the Oles, who return to the courts with a return trip to Gustavus to face the Gusties on Saturday, Feb. 11.