St. John's University Athletics
Men’s Tennis Ranked Fifth in ITA Regional Rankings
6/13/2024 1:19:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Sotelo and Bugaj named No. 4 doubles pair; Gustavsson tabbed No. 20 singles player in the region
TEMPE, ARIZ. – The St. John's men's tennis team was ranked fifth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Northeast Region postseason rankings, released earlier this week. Armando Sotelo and Martin Bugaj were honored as the fourth-ranked doubles pair in the region and rising senior Carl Gustavsson appeared as the 20th-best singles player in the northeast.
The Johnnies are coming off a 21-win 2024 season in which they reached the BIG EAST Title Match for the fifth consecutive year. This was the second year in a row the Red Storm eclipsed the 20-win plateau and marks the most wins in a season since winning 21 contests in 2016. The Red Storm won three matches against teams also ranked in the northeast's top 10.
St. John's started the season by winning eight of its first nine matches, including a 4-3 triumph on the road at Dartmouth on Feb. 3 and a 4-0 sweep of Penn State at home on Feb. 10. The Red Storm picked up a 4-3 home victory on March 27 against No. 75 Monmouth for its only top-75 good of the season and won all four regular season BIG EAST contests.
In the BIG EAST Tournament, the top-seeded Johnnies dismantled eighth-seeded Marquette, 4-0, in the quarterfinals before besting No. 5 Butler, 4-3 in the semifinals. The run ended with a 4-2 defeat to No. 2 DePaul in the championship.
Bugaj and Sotelo were dominant in doubles play, finishing with a 9-1 record as a pair. The duo was 8-0 in the No. 2 singles position and became the highest-ranked doubles pair in the regional rankings since Axel Vila Antuna and Ignacio Garcia were ranked sixth in 2022. This is the second postseason award for Sotelo, who was previously named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Bugaj was included on the conference's second team.
Gustavsson appears on the region's top-20 singles list after winning 17 matches in singles play this season, finishing the year winning six in a row. The 2024 All-BIG EAST First Team athlete won four matches in the No. 1 singles position and eight contests on the No. 2 court. The Stockholm, Sweden, native was named the BIG EAST Singles Player of the Week on Jan. 29.
Players Mentioned
