On The Brink Of The Playoffs
Concordia rallied to beat St. Olaf 5-4 and is now on the verge of clinching their first MIAC playoff berth since 2011.
FARGO, Minn. (4/07/18)---Concordia moved to the brink of their first conference playoff berth since 2011 as they claimed four singles wins and beat St. Olaf 5-4 in the penultimate MIAC match of the regular season.
The Cobbers need only to beat Hamline in their final league dual on Apr. 22 to clinch a spot in the five-team conference tournament.
The come-from-behind win over the Oles is the fourth victory in the last five matches for the Cobbers. CC is now 9-7 in all matches and 4-4 in league play. St. Olaf falls to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the MIAC.
The decisive single win was turned in by senior Matthew Engum who won 6-4, 6-4 at No.5 singles to give Concordia its fifth team point. Engum recorded two of the team's five points as he teamed with Ben Swanson to win 8-2 at No.3 doubles.
The Cobbers trailed 2-1 after doubles play but then won four of the first five singles bouts to claim the overall win.
Sophomore Erik Porter rolled to the quickest singles win of the day as he cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win at No.2 singles.
Isaac Toivonen was pushed to a tie-breaker in the second set after he won 6-4 in the opening set. Toivonen broke his opponent early in the tie-breaker and won 7-3 to record his team-leading 10th singles win of the year. Toivonen is now 5-3 against conference opponents.
The final singles win came courtesy of the "wear 'em down" style of Jared Saue. Saue, the human bounce back machine, lost the first set in the tie-breaker but then started to get to his opponent and won 6-1 in the second set. Saue then finished off his tired opponent in the super-set tie-breaker with a 10-7 decision.
Saue has now won a career-best nine singles matches on the year. He has won four of his last five single bouts and three wins have come via the super-set.
SO FINE NINE: The nine overall match wins for the Cobbers are the most since the 2005 season when CC went 12-5 and 6-3 in the MIAC and placed fourth in the final conference standings. The nine wins is also the second most for the Cobbers since 1992.
WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will step out of conference play for three straight matches before trying to clinch against the Pipers. The Cobbers will host a pair of NCAA scholarship opponents on Sunday, Apr. 15. CC will face Division II Augustana (S.D.) at 9:30 a.m. and then Division I Univ. of North Dakota at 6:30 p.m. Both matches will be held at Courts Plus in Fargo.
Concordia-M'head 5, St. Olaf College 4
Apr 07, 2018 at Fargo, N.D. (Courts Plus)
Singles competition
1. Isaac Toivonen (CC) def. Christian Beck (STO) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Erik Porter (CC) def. Danny Hogan (STO) 6-1, 6-1
3. Jack Leach (STO) def. David Youngs (CC) 6-3, 1-6, 14-12
4. Jared Saue (CC) def. Spencer Wick (STO) 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 10-7
5. Matthew Engum (CC) def. Christopher Prokosch (STO) 6-4, 6-4
6. Corey Loken (STO) def. David Schneck (CC) 6-4, 2-6, 10-8
Doubles competition
1. Christian Beck/Danny Hogan (STO) def. Isaac Toivonen/David Youngs (CC) 8-6
2. Spencer Wick/Jack Leach (STO) def. Erik Porter/David Schneck (CC) 8-6
3. Matthew Engum/Ben Swanson (CC) def. Christopher Prokosch/Gus Fedje-Johnston (STO) 8-2