Riding an enormous two-match winning streak (7–0 over Concordia of Wisconsin and 5–2 over Grinnell), the men's tennis team came into last Friday and Saturday's matches knowing more wins were in the books.

And sure enough, it almost happened.

The Macalester Scots tennis squad, affectionately called "Guys' Club" (see News and Notes for explanation), came so close to extending its winning streak to four but lost heart-wrenching 5–4 decisions to Winona State and Concordia-Moorhead.

Last Friday's match against Winona State started off with plenty of high intensity in doubles play. Still feeling it from the week's intense practice sessions, Jake Depue '04 and David Yesilevskiy '03 had enough smoke in the engines to clip off Will Nagel and Jon Gould, 8–5, at number two doubles. Mac's one and three tandems, however, couldn't quite elevate their games to such a high level, as they may have been still coming down from the energy of the Grinnell match. Peter Loken '03 and Spencer Edelman '06 fell 8–5 at one while Josh Fogt '03 and Nick "Worthless" Werth '06 lost 8-6.

But the tide started to turn in singles after number one player Depue burned Nagel, rolling up the 6–0, 6–2 match in under an hour. "Our [indoor] surface is really fast, it's like playing on grass," Depue said. "The few times I've played on grass, I've played really well, so I try to take that same attitude when we play on our indoor surface."

Following Depue's easy win, Werth dispatched of Gould with the greatest of ease, 6–1, 6–2. Loken then brought his out-for-blood, kill-'em-all, rabid animal attitude on the court, ripping apart Kyle Buchmeier 6–3, 6–2, giving Macalester a 4–2 lead.

Guy's Club came agonizingly close to closing out the match at number three singles but Yesilesvkiy was on the short end of a three-set marathon, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4. Then at number five, Edelman fought Jon Lawrence shot-for-shot but fell, 7–6(15–13), 6–3.

The Scots had one more chance at redemption, but Eric Brandt '05 lost.

The next match, against Concordia-Moorhead, was déjà vu for the Scots as they once again fell in the final match. Doubles started on a brighter note as Macalester won two of three to take the early lead. Depue and Yesilevskiy once again proved the age-old tennis adage that "If you pair a Republic of Georgian with a Southern Missour'an, your number two doubles team will sure be a-winnin'" with another 8–4 win over Jake Thomas and Eric Giga.

Loken and Edelman gave Guys' Club the 2–0 lead with a resounding 8–4 win over Joe Ansberry and Todd Scearcy. Macalester came close to sweeping doubles, but Fogt and Werth lost 7–3 in a tiebreaker to Justin Borg and Kyle Knutson.

The Cobbers tied the match at 2 when Giga narrowly edged Werth, 6–2, 6–2, and then took the lead when Depue displayed his signature second-set collapse, losing 6–1 in the second to Jake Thomas after a close 7–5 first set.

Edelman brought the Scots back in the match with a 6–3, 6–3 win over Borg at number five, but Concordia pulled within one match of clinching the win after Scearcy outlasted Yesilevskiy, 4–6, 7–5, (11–9).

With their backs to the wall, "E-Town" Brandt kept the Scots alive with a grueling 6–7(6–8), 6–0, (13–11) win at six over Kevin Wick.

But alas, the cruel hand of fate was against the valiant Scots yet again, as Loken lost an extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely close 10–8 supertiebreaker to Ansberry in the deciding match, once again proving Guys' Club's motto: "Winning is neither encouraged nor discouraged."

Two days later, the Scots bowed down before the tennis gods yet again, falling to the scythe of the St. Cloud State Huskies, 7–2. Yesilesvkiy and Brandt picked up singles wins against their formidable Division-II opponents.

The results for yesterday's match against Northwestern (Roseville) were not in at press time, but the Scots probably won.
 

News and Notes: The name "Guys' Club" derives from a February trip to Chicago. Country Kitchen waitress Shirley asked the Scots, "What are you, like, 'Guys' Club' or something?" … This week's McIlhenny's Tabasco ® Sauce/Phoenix AXE Bodyspray ® Scintillating Scot of the Week is Jeremy Cover '06 in recognition of his exhibition singles win against Concordia-Moorhead, 9–7 … The Mac Tennis T.E.A.C.H. appearance at Minnetonka Elementary School scheduled for next Monday has been cancelled due to good weather and will not be rescheduled. Sorry, kids! … The Scots finish off the 2003 season with a big homestand. On Monday, April 14, the Scots face off against hated rivals St. John's at 5 p.m. The Scots will unveil their new JumboTron scoreboard in a ceremony before the match. On Wednesday at 4 p.m., the Scots will welcome equally hated rivals Hamline. The last regular season match of the season, next Friday at 4:30 p.m., comes against Macalester-wannabes Carleton. Friday's match will be "Fan Appreciation Night" with a barbecue for fans in the parking lot before and during the match.