MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Yellowjacket men's tennis team ran roughshod over the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), to the tune of a 10-0 conference mark in 2023. The perfect mark assured the Yellowjackets the championship of the UMAC's North Division, and assured them a top seed in the UMAC Championships, which began Friday at Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
 
The difference from years past, however, is in the UMAC absorbed tennis teams from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) into the conference, forming the league's South Division.

The Yellowjackets got their first look at one of the teams from the South Division Friday, when they took on Principia for the right to advance to the UMAC Championship Saturday.
 
In 2022, the Yellowjackets won the program's first-ever UMAC title, and after Friday, they will have a chance to defend their title.

The Yellowjackets advance to the UMAC Championship following a 5-1 win over Principia Friday.
 
With the win, the Yellowjackets are now 23-3 on the year.
 
The Yellowjackets and Principia played three tight matches in doubles play, with Principia taking the early lead with a win at No. 2 doubles. The Yellowjackets evened the match with the duo of Igor Guetten Chaves (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) and Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin) won at No. 1 doubles, 8-7 over Principia's top tandem of Ernesto Botero and Kura Sandi. The 'Jackets took the lead, 2-1, with Mateo Abarca Pino (Riobamba, Ecuador/El Despertar) and Vitor Sakakibara (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Saber) defeated Rafter Sprague and Alvaro Moliz 8-6 at No. 3 doubles.
 
In singles play the Yellowjackets pulled away.
 
Sakakibara got things started with a straight sets win at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-4 over Sprague. They gained their fourth win of the day at No. 5 singles when Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) defeated Moliz by an identical score of 6-2, 6-4.
 
The Yellowjackets clinched the win, and a trip to the finals, when Andre Luiz de Melo Guedes (Brasilia, Brazil/Centro de Ensino Médio Paulo Freire) outlasted Botero at No. 3 singles. Botero won the first set, 6-3, before UW-Superior's all-time wins leader came from behind to get the win. Luiz de Melo Guedes took the second set 6-2 and then closed out the match with a 6-4 win in the third set.
 
Because it was tournament play, the match was played to decision and the remainder of the matches go in the book as unfinished.

The Yellowjackets will look to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row with a victory in the UMAC Championship over Greenville. The match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.