The UW-Eau Claire men’s tennis team traveled to south-central Minnesota during the weekend to take on a couple of strong opponents from the Gopher State.
On April 7 the Blugolds took on Minnesota State University-Mankato and fell short by a score of 7-2.
“It was a tough match,” sophomore Andrew Kallio said of the Saturday match. “(Mankato has) a lot of talent.”
The No. 1 doubles team of junior Joe Johnston and freshman Jon Snodgrass earned an 8-3 win for Eau Claire.
The No. 3 doubles team of Kallio and junior Bob Yunker took their match by a score of 8-7 to provide for the Blugolds’ only points.
“The doubles played well,” Kallio said. “We just came up short.”
On Sunday, the Blugolds traveled up the Minnesota River to St. Peter, Minn., to take on powerful Gustavus Adolphus College, who entered the match with a 23-1 record for the spring. The Blugolds were unable to stop the Gusties’. Again, the Blugolds were only able to produce two points, to lose the match 6-2.
Kallio said Gustavus is a pretty good team but he thought the Blugolds played well despite the competition.
“We didn’t give up,” he said.
Eau Claire’s points for the Gustavus match came from the team of Kallio and Yunker and from sophomore Ryan Gruhlke, who beat Gustavus’ Kyle Anderson 7-5, 6-4.
The losses dropped Eau Claire’s dual record for the spring to 10-11.
The Blugolds will enjoy two weeks off before they compete again.
On April 21, the team will travel to Decorah, Iowa to compete against Luther College and Minnesota-Morris.
“I think the team needs a break at this point,” head coach Tracy Saloka said. “They’re running into heavy workloads, so it will be good to take a break to refresh and regroup.”
Kallio said a rest is what some of the players need right now.
Saloka said he hopes the team will be able to take advantage of the time off.
“This time is about relaxing and leaving tennis alone,” he said. “Hopefully, they can get a better sense of direction.”