GameDay Preview

ST. PETER, Minn. — For the second year in a row, Brenden Amiotte (Rapid City, S.D.) kicked off his Saint Mary's University of Minnesota tennis season on a winning note.
 
Amiotte, who opened the Gustavus Midwest Open with a pair of victories a year ago, kicked off the 2016 season in much the same fashion Friday, posting a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Gabriel Sellmer of Nebraska Wesleyan in the opening round of the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinal junior, the second round was not as kind, as Gustavus' Mohanad Al Houni—the tournament's No. 1 seed, ousted Amiotte, 6-1, 6-2.
 
Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.), also playing in the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional, suffered an opening-round, 6-2, 6-0 loss to St. Scholastica's Ernesto Telles.
 
Six other Cardinals were also in action on Friday at the Gustavus Midwest Open, with Alex Zuzek leading the way with an opening-round 6-1, 6-3 win over Tom Greene of Cornell. Zuzek's run, however, ended in the second round with a 6-2, 6-1 setback against Zach Jannsenn of UW-Eau Claire.
 
Alex Holm (Red Wing, Minn.), Paul Stewart (Detroit Lakes, Minn.), Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.), and Kyle Swanson (Oak Grove, Minn.) came up empty in their opening-round matches. Holm lost to Tom Greene of Cornell, 6-2, 6-2; Stewart fell to Concordia's Tate Hovland, 6-0, 6-0; Tiedemann suffered a 6-4, 6-2 setback at the hands of Central's C.J. Cliff; and Swanson fell to UW-Eau Claire's Zach Knudsen 6-2, 6-1.
 
In doubles action, Amiotte and Holm dropped their first-round match at the USTA/ITA Midwest Classic, falling 8-4, while Tiedemann-Swanson collected a pair of wins—8-2 in the opening round and 8-5 in the second round—at the Midwest Open.
 
The USTA/ITA Midwest Region and Midwest Open, both hosted by Gustavus continue on Saturday in St. Peter, Minn.