MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's tennis team got a decisive super-tiebreak win from sophomore
Madden Vanderwerf to record a 4-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory over Hamline University on Saturday afternoon at InnerCity Tennis.
For the second time this week, St. Olaf (10-8, 6-3 MIAC) won a super tiebreak in the final singles match on court to claim a conference win, with Vanderwerf providing the heroics against Hamline (5-14, 2-7 MIAC). The Oles entered the day already having locked up a spot in the five-team MIAC Playoffs and will see their seed determined after the College of St. Scholastica's match on Sunday.
All three doubles matches were decided by two games or fewer, but St. Olaf took two of the three to take the advantage into singles. Sophomores
Daniel Meunier and
Mason Ramirez recorded a 6-4 victory at No. 3 doubles to move to 4-3 in MIAC play before senior
Bogdan Vizoli and sophomore
Lou Smith closed out a 7-5 win at No. 1 doubles to lock up the point. The Pipers won a tiebreak at No. 3 doubles that did not factor into the overall score.
Smith raced to a 6-0, 6-1 victory for his team-leading 13th singles win of the season before sophomore
Jacob Schultz posted a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles to make it 3-0. Schultz's win gave him a team-best 7-2 mark in MIAC play this season.
Hamline battled back to tie the match at 3-3 by winning the next three matches to finish, claiming super tiebreaks at the No. 6, No. 3, and No. 1 spots to leave the match in the hands of the match between Vanderwerf and Max Gulliford at No. 4 singles. After dropping the first set, Vanderwerf won a second-set tiebreak and edged Gulliford in the super tiebreak for a 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 1-0 (10-8) win to clinch the victory.
