ST. PAUL, Minn. – In its first appearance in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs since 2015, the fifth-seeded St. Olaf College men's tennis team fell 5-1 to fourth-seeded Macalester College in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at Hayden Courts.

In the second meeting between the two programs in four days and the first-ever postseason match between them, Macalester (9-10) got wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles and straight-set victories at No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 singles to defeat St. Olaf (6-12) and advance to the semifinals. The Oles had won the first sets in two of the three unfinished singles matches, as the match was halted once the Scots had the required five points to advance.

With the win, Macalester advanced to the semifinals to take on regular-season champion and top-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 3. The Oles' were making their first appearance in the MIAC Playoffs since a run of eight consecutive berths from 2008-15.

After claiming a 5-4 win in the regular-season finale on Sunday, Macalester took two of the three doubles matches to get out to a lead. The Scots posted 8-6 and 8-3 victories at the top-two spots before first year Ryan Birnesser and senior Karsten Johnson gave the Oles their lone point of the match by winning a tiebreaker by a 7-5 margin at No. 3 doubles.

Macalester locked up the victory with straight-set wins at the final three singles spots to leave the first three matches unfinished. Sophomore Bogdan Vizoli was leading 6-3, 5-5 at No. 1 singles and senior Jakub Belik was up 7-6 (7-5), 3-3 at No. 3 singles when the matches were called off. First year Marjan Veldic had dropped the first set but was locked in a tight second set at No. 2 singles, trailing 6-3, 5-5 when the verdict was reached.