ON TAP
Macalester will conclude the regular season this week with a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches.
 
Today, the Scots are slated for a makeup match with Hamline. Previously rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Hamline, the match has been moved indoors to the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center.
 
Friday, Macalester is slated to round out its schedule by hosting St. Thomas in a 4:30 p.m. match at the Hayden Courts.
 
LAST WEEK
The Scots split a pair of conference matches last week, earning a key 6-3 win at Bethel, Thursday, before dropping a 6-3 decision, Saturday, at league-leading Carleton.
 
Facing the Royals, Thursday, the loser was likely out of the MIAC playoff picture and Macalester kept its playoff hopes alive at Bethel's Ona Orth Complex.
 
Although the hosts won at one doubles, Josh Doyle and Wilson Merrell claimed an 8-2 win at two doubles and the team of Sam Naden and Perry Campbell won 8-3 at three doubles to give Macalester a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.
 
Doyle won his match at two singles, winning for the eighth time in his last nine outings, 6-2, 6-3 and, at three singles, Aidan Tirpack was a 6-0, 6-1 winner.
 
The Scots then clinched the win when Naden and Campbell won at five and six singles, respectively. Naden came away with a 6-4, 7-5 win while Campbell had to overcome a first-set loss, sending his match to a super tiebreaker, where he claimed a 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 10-8 victory.
 
Saturday, Doyle continued his winning ways, earning victories at one singles and two doubles, but it wasn't enough to carry Macalester past region's 12th-ranked team.
 
Doyle and Merrell earned Macalester's lone doubles win with an 8-6 victory. Doyle, playing his first match of the season at one singles, went to a super tiebreaker before coming away with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 victory. The wins for Doyle give him three consecutive wins in both singles and doubles. He has won nine of his last 10 singles matches and nine of his last 11 doubles matches.
 
The Scots also got a win at two singles from Brian Utz, who halted a five-match losing streak with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
 
THE PLAYOFF PICTURE
Macalester will need at least one win this week to earn the fifth and final spot in the MIAC playoffs, which begin Tuesday, April 28.
 
Saint Mary's, which the Scots defeated 5-4, has completed its conference schedule and is 4-5. Macalester and Saint John's are both one match back at 3-4. However, the Scots have ninth-place Hamline and third-place St. Thomas remaining on their schedule this week while the Johnnies have the MIAC's top two teams and lone unbeaten in Carleton and Gustavus Adolphus remaining to play.
 
The Scots, with the head-to-head win over the Cardinals, hold the tie-breaker advantage. Saint Mary's defeated Saint John's, 5-4, and the Johnnies defeated Macalester by the same score so, should the team's finish in a three-way tie, the tie-breaker for the fifth spot would go at least to the third step – record versus higher-finishing teams in the conference standings.
 
The fifth seed will open the playoffs next Tuesday at the fourth seed (currently St. Olaf). Semifinals are slated to be at the site of the top two seeds, Thursday, April 30, with the championship being hosted by the top remaining seed, Saturday, May 1.
 
HE'S THE BOSS
Jason Muhl is in his 11th year as the head men's and women's tennis coach at Macalester College.

In 2008, Muhl was named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's tennis coach of the year after guiding the Scots to their best season in school history, and, in 2010, was picked as MIAC men's tennis coach of the year.

A former standout at St. Cloud State University, where he was team captain, Muhl previously coached at Burnsville High School, the Blake School and Eastview High School.

Muhl holds undergraduate degrees in recreation administration from St. Cloud State University, from where he graduated in 1997, elementary education from Bemidji State University, and a master's degree in educational leadership from Concordia University. He currently teaches elementary school in the New Prague School District.
 
Up Next
Macalester's 2014-15 slate comes to a close next week with its final two conference matches of the season. The Scots will be at Hamline, Monday, for a 4:30 p.m. match before hosting St. Thomas, next Friday, in a 4:30 p.m. match at the Hayden Courts.

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