DULUTH, Minn. – The Yellowjacket men's tennis team returned to the court Friday, taking on bridge-rival St. Scholastica in non-conference action. Tennis saw its inaugural season in 2018 and have been unable to steal a victory from the Saints, falling in its last four matches.
The Yellowjackets changed that narrative Friday, defeating CSS 6-3 inside the Duluth Indoor Sports Center (DISC) to earn its first victory over the bridge-rival in program history.
Match Notes
- The closest match for the Yellowjackets came at No. 1 doubles, as the duo of Sharan Kanugovi (Bangalore, Karnataka/New Baldwin International School) and Davide Pelletti (Prado, Brazil) edged the Saints' duo of Jonas Abeleda and Eamon Gerrard-Stace 8-7, 7-4.
- Doubles action continued as Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) teamed with Yash Chhabra (Jaipur, Rajasthan/Sanskar School), who defeated Andy Shaffer and Alex Daigneault 8-4.
- Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin) was slotted at No. 1 singles Friday evening, earning the first set victory 6-4. His opponent, Abeleda, rallied to even things up in the second set, but Kurachi held his own and prevailed in the tiebreaker.
- Sharan Kanugovi (Bangalore, Karnataka/New Baldwin International School) clinched for the 'Jackets, defeating Gerrard-Stace 6-4, 6-2.
- Lucca Paladini (Blumenu, Brazil/Colegio Saber) and Davide Pelletti (Prado, Brazil) each picked up 6-4, 6-3 and 6-1, 6-1 victories against their counterparts from St. Scholastica, respectively.
The Yellowjackets will return to the DISC Saturday to face off against UW-Stevens Point. First serve is slated for 3 p.m.
