St. John’s tennis kicks off 2026 season with postseason dreams

SJU Tennis has kicked off the 2026 season with high standards to make the MIAC playoffs after missing out the past three years.

Head coach Jack Bowe said that the expectation for the season is high despite an injury to junior Sam Wolden who has not been able to play yet. The team plans to have an MRI done on him this week.

“The future looks bright, it looks better. It’s just kind of a bummer that our number one player is out,” Bowe said.

Bowe touched on improving doubles players. He said the team has a lot of good singles players, so they are focusing on doubles right now. He also explained the format change from nine-point matches the previous year to seven-point matches this year—doubles play best two out of three for one point then the match will proceed to singles.

“Starting out getting that one point right away is very important,” Bowe said, addressing the emphasis on taking advantage of these matches.

Bowe’s goal for the season as a coach is to lead his young team to the playoffs after barely missing out last year. One benchmark that Bowe is looking for is improvement in practice.

Senior Josh Peterson described the team’s outlook as a lot of opportunity still remaining despite starting the season with two tough losses to Gustavus Adolphus and Hamline. Strengths that Peterson highlighted were the team keeping its head high and practicing harder every day. He touched on the team goal of making the MIAC playoffs as well as individual goals of obtaining a winning record and focusing on doubles play. Being the captain of the team, Peterson’s goal is to make the younger players on the team better. He is excited to compete against teams in the MIAC conference.

Freshman Henry Raiche described his transition from high school to the college level in terms of the number of players being smaller due to only having one team compared to junior varsity and varsity teams in high school. Raiche explained how mentorship from upper-class captains Finn Dolezal, Taylor Duncan and Peterson have benefited him and the rest of the team. He said the mentors do a good job of leading both on and off the court and making sure that the team is sticking together at captains’ practices. Raiche’s individual goal as a freshman is to play in the lineup a few times before the end of the season.

He envisions the coaches making sure everyone from each class level gets an opportunity to compete. One goal that he has for the team is to win fifty percent of their matches. An area that Raiche wants to improve is his serving and being more consistent. Raiche is most excited about the spring break trip to Florida where they will play against four non-conference teams in Orlando. He anticipates that team bonding while on the trip will also be fun. Raiche sees his role on the team as connecting and helping everyone on the team get better and make sure they are having fun.

Sophomore Andrew Eckmann described the team’s outlook as being excited for the upcoming season, hoping that it is competitive and fun. Eckmann said that the team dynamic is the same as last year where the team gets along and builds team chemistry quickly. He stated that this year’s team has a lot more talent than last season, which provides a lot more competition during practice, so the team gets better every day. Eckmann is adjusting to being in the lineup this year and staying healthy. His main goal is to improve his game and just have fun.

The Johnnies take on St. Olaf this Sunday, March 8 and then will fly out to Florida on Friday, March 13 for their spring break competitions beginning March 16.