ST. PETER, Minn. – The Knights saw the season draw to a close with a 5-4 loss to fourth-seeded St. Olaf in the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs. Carleton, the second seed, won four of the six singles matches but was unable to overcome an ice-cold start in doubles play. Ben Guzick (Fy./Rochester, N.Y./The Harley School) capped his year with a straight-sets triumph at first singles.
The Oles built a huge lead after sweeping the three doubles matches. The Knights responded with four straight-set victories in singles play, but a marathon match at fifth singles proved to be the deciding point.
Carleton’s Jon Aranda (Fy./Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) and the Oles’ John Wight matched up for the second time this season. When the rookies met back in mid-may, St. Olaf recorded a straight-set win, 7-6 and 6-1. Today, neither player would back down.
The opening set necessitated a tiebreaker, which Aranda won 7-4. Wight bounced back by a 6-3 score in the second set. The final set saw Wight complete the comeback by a 10-4 score.
Peter Dunn (Fy./Winnetka, Ill./North Shore Country Day), Winston Park (Jr./Encino, Calif./Harvard-Westlake), and Austin Taylor (So./Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) were the other winners at singles for the Knights.
Carleton returns every member of this year’s 14-10 team that finished in the top two of the conference for the seventh straight season.