The St. Thomas men’s tennis team defeated St. Scholastica 9-0 at home Sunday after losing to Carleton Saturday night.

Andrew Michels and Brian McCarthy pulled off an 8-6 win in the first doubles match of the day. Michels and McCarthy began playing No. 1 doubles together this year, and Michels said they are continuing to build chemistry.

“[McCarthy’s] got a big serve,” Michels said. “So we play at the net just because I can knock down a lot of balls.”

The duo also worked on remaining positive.

“One thing we realized after we lost last night to Carleton is that we kind of need to smile a little more on the court and have fun,” Michels said. “Playing tennis at St. Thomas is a great thing.”

Daniel Cooper won convincingly in No. 3 singles for the Tommies with a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Cooper and his partner Mitchell Blackey also won 8-2 in No. 2 doubles. Cooper said it required mental toughness to play two consecutive days after being drained from Saturday’s match.

“It’s not quite at the same level, different mentally,” Cooper said. “So to come out here and clean up felt pretty good.”

Michels said he was impressed by his teammates’ results.

“I think we’ve been very successful against St. Scholastica in the past,” Michels said. “We’ve got a strong, deep team, so I think we were all very confident coming into today’s match. They fight hard.”

Matthew Bergstrom and Kevin Walker won 8-3 at three doubles for St. Thomas, completing the sweep. Bergstrom said the team came out focused on winning after the Carleton loss.

“We really wanted to bounce back after that loss and come out here and really work hard,” Bergstrom said.

Walker and Bergstrom were paired for the first time as a doubles team, but Bergstrom said they played well together.

The Tommies are now 4-1 in the MIAC, and coach Terry Peck said he is optimistic about the team’s future.

“We’re going to be, I believe, in the top three, and hopefully we’ll be right there in the end,” Peck said. “We’re a young team with some new players and getting over a few injuries. I look for us to be competitive in every match we play.”

St. Thomas plays at Gustavus March 5. McCarthy said one of his season goals is to beat the Gusties.

“We’re going in with momentum,” McCarthy said.

Kelsey Broadwell can be reached at broa3324@stthomas.edu.