You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

Men's Tennis Competitve in MIAC Conference Tournament

Scott Nesbit
April 29, 2003

The Oles entered the conference tournament held in Northfield as the number six seed. This placement was a result of their dual match record during the year against conference opponents. The Oles had a big challenge before them because they were going to be without the services of their numbers one and two singles players and number one doubles team (Ted and Tom Nagel) who were taking their MCAT test during conference weekend. Nevertheless, the St. Olaf men's team put on a good showing and played very well in the conference tournament.

Their first match was with a very talented St. Thomas team. Although the Oles didn't win any of the matches, a majority of the competitions were very close and the players and coaches felt good about their efforts. The Oles good play continued on Saturday morning when they faced another talented team, the Carleton Knights from across the river. Again the Oles did not win any of the specific matches, but were extremely competitive with their opponents. This put the Oles in a match with the Macalester Scots of St. Paul. It was a close match. The Oles won two of the singles matches, Dan Cohen at number two singles and Mike Matsuura at number five singles. They also had very close matches at number three singles and number four singles with repective players, Ross Bidlingmaier and Mike Donohue splitting sets and losing the super-tiebreaker for the deciding third set. This meant that the Oles needed to win all three doubles to win the match. Dan Cohen and Matt Sobieski played superbly at number one doubles defeating the Scots 8-3. However, the Oles were not able to pick up the other two doubles victories.

The Oles finish the season with a seventh place overall finish. This is determined by their sixth place dual match record and their eighth place conference finish. The season ends with the annual alumni match on Saturday, May 10th at 3:00-5:00pm at the Skolgund courts. The Oles were coached by assistant Dave Olson and head coach Scott Nesbit.

Contact Le Ann Finger at 507-786-3315 or finger@stolaf.edu.