Blugold Men’s Tennis competed individually in the Midwest region of the ITA tournament, which was hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College on Sept. 30-Oct. 3, in St. Peter, Minn.

The matches were held across a variety of sites in St. Peter and Mankato, Minn. with 25 schools from across the Midwest region in attendance.

Fans were able to attend matches in person in the Swanson Tennis Center and live-stream the three-day competition.

Third-year exercise science student Ryan Fonseca made it to the quarter-finals of the Midwest draw.

“The atmosphere this weekend was amazing. We had everyone cheering each other on, which was awesome. That place can get louder than an NFL stadium,” said Fonseca.

The Blugold men were able to play both singles and doubles in this tournament and were split into two different draws, which are similar to brackets; the ITA draw and the Midwest draw to allow for more opportunities to play more matches.

The tournaments are split up by the division and region of the college. The top two in both singles and doubles of the ITA draw qualify for the ITA cup which is a bigger tournament comprising multiple regions.

Fonseca said, “I think this tournament helped us loosen up as far as match play goes. Got us comfortable playing matches again and helped us play less tight as we progressed through the tournament.”

Third-year student RJ Griffiths along with fourth-year student Hunter Roseth both made it to the third round of the ITA draw in singles. Over in doubles Roseth and fourth-year student John Foley also made it to the third round of doubles together.

In the Midwest draw, Jared Lawatsch placed second in singles.

The results are posted on both the Gustavus ITA page as well as the ITA website.  

Fifth-year kinesiology student Kole Kolinski is a captain of the team alongside fourth-year John Foley.

“Since this is the only competition we have during the fall semester, this is our opportunity to see how we match up to other teams,” Kolinski said, “Will help us set our sights on where we want to be once the spring season comes around.”

Two new rules implemented in all three divisions of tennis. There are no longer service lets; if the ball hits the net and goes into the correct box the ball is in play. The other new rule is that there is no more ad scoring so when the game reaches 40-40 the next point wins.

“One thing, me, as well as the team are working on is improving our doubles play. I think that’s the best way for our team to compete with some of the best schools,” Fonseca said.

Fonseca is excited for the road trips and the spring break trip because he believes the best part of the team is spending time with his teammates.

“Having a really great team culture combined with the fact that we are almost the exact same team as we had last year is very exciting,” said Kolinski, “We have really high hopes and want to end it all on a good note.”

Looking forward to the Spring, their first match of the season will be Jan. 28 against Cornerstone in Michigan.

For more Blugold Men’s tennis information and match schedule visit the men’s tennis page on blugolds.com.

Geske can be reached at [email protected].