ST. PETER, Minn. – In the midst of the final week of the 2023 tennis season, the Yellowjacket men control their own destiny.
With four matches over three days, the task at hand is simple – win and you take home the No.1 seed in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) North Division. Continue your winning ways, and you also solidify the program's first 20-win season since the program was reinstated.
After defeating Crown Friday, the Yellowjackets took care of business again Saturday, taking down Martin Luther and Bethany Lutheran by identical 9-0 scores.
The wins improve the Yellowjackets to 21-3 overall and 9-0 in the UMAC, and set the stage for a crucial match against Northwestern Sunday to close the regular season.
Match One
The Yellowjackets opened things Saturday against Martin Luther with a sweep of the doubles matches.
Mateo Abarca Pino (Riobamba, Ecuador/El Despertar) and
Vitor Sakakibara (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Saber) teams up at No. 2 doubles to defeat Josiah Koelpin and Silas Steinbrenner 8-2.
Mateus Miranda Silvestre (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Torricelli) and
Simon Potapov (Noginsk, Russia/Feniks Secondary General School) took down Matthew Koelpin and Brian Frieseneggar at No. 3 doubles by the same 8-2 score. The sweep was finished off by
Igor Guetten Chaves (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) and
Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin), who beat Josiah Wordell and Johannes Bourman at No. 1 doubles, 8-4.
Moving to singles play the Yellowjackets kept their collective foot on the gas.
Miranda Silvestre rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Elijah Schulz at No. 4 singles, and
Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) had little trouble at No. 2 singles, defeated Bourman 6-0, 6-1 to clinch the win.
Sakakibara rolled over Wordell at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-2.
At No. 3 singles,
Jace Gilbertson (Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie Senior) improved his record for the year to a perfect 10-0 with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Josiah Koelpin.
Frederick Diehl (Minneapolis, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) put the Yellowjackets on the cusp of the sweep, winning at No. 6 singles over Frieseneggar, 6-4, 6-2. The ninth win of the day came at No. 5 singles, where
Benedek Kaibas (Salgótarján, Hungary/Mikszáth Kálmán Gimnázium) defeated Matthew Koelpin 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (10-7).
Match Two
In the second match of the day the Yellowjackets continued their winning ways, defeating Bethany Lutheran for the second time this week.
In doubles play, the Yellowjackets opened with the duo of Zacharias and
Miles Dempsey (Golden, Colo./Green Mountain) defeating Kyle Deyo and Caike Ribeiro 8-1 at No. 2 doubles. Shortly thereafter
Keisuke Sato (Fukushima, Japan/Fukushima) and
Lorenzo Korehisa Silva (São Paolo, Brazil/Colegio Singular-Santo Andre) rolled at No. 3 doubles, 8-2 over Javier Billon and Caue Ribeiro. The top paring of Guetten Chaves and Kurachi defeated the top Bethany pair of Marcos Morobia and Heitor Damaso at No. 1 doubles, 8-4.
As things shifted to singles the Yellowjackets kept on rolling.
Guetten Chaves had a fight on his hands at No. 1 singles, taking the first set from Borobia 6-3 before dropping the second set 5-7. He won the third set 1-0 (10-4) to avenge a loss from earlier in the week.
Kurachi blew past Damaso at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-0, while Gilbertson won his second match of the day at No. 3 singles, defeating Caue Ribeiro in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Sato didn't need much time at No. 4 singles, taking down Kaike Ribeiro 6-1, 6-2.
Kaibas also won for the second time on the day, winning at No. 5 singles, 6-3, 6-2 over Deyo. The Yellowjackets closed out the 9-0 win with a victory at No. 6 singles, where Korehisa Silva defeated Billon 6-2, 6-0.
The Yellowjackets close the regular season Sunday at Northwestern. The first serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Johnson Tennis Complex in St. Paul.
