Both of the College’s tennis teams went 1-1 over the weekend, as the men dropped their home opener before rebounding against Muhlenberg College and the women lost for the first time this year after beating Goldey-Beacom College.
The men suffered a 6-3 setback to No. 20 Swarthmore College in their first loss the season, but said they will use the loss as a learning experience on how to beat tough opponents as the season goes on.
“Swarthmore is a very good team and a 6-3 loss to a team that recently beat the No. 4 team in the country is not disheartening by any means,” junior T.J. Riley said. “As our first match outdoors at home it showed our team a lot about ourselves and where we can improve. We have a very talented, trainable and motivated team, and Swarthmore is lucky that they got to play us at the beginning of the season, because the outcome of that match would be different later in the year.”
Riley (first singles position), freshman Gabe Allen (sixth) and the doubles team of junior Howard Telson and Stewart Fernandez earned the College’s points against Swarthmore and also won against Mulhenberg the next day, when the Lions won 9-0.
The shutout win gave the Lions a 3-1 record heading into this Sunday’s match at New York University.
“At this point in the season, even though we’d like to be 4-0, 3-1 is a good spot to be in,” Riley said. “Now we just need to work on some things, put it all together and win a big match that will really send us down the right path.
The women’s team also won one and lost one, beating Goldey-Beacom (Division II) by a score of 6-3 but ending its season-long undefeated streak of nine games against Villanova (Division I), 7-2.
In singles, juniors Allison Tierney (third), Paige Aiello (fourth), Lauren Balsamo (fifth) and freshman Deborah Wu (sixth) earned wins against Goldey-Beacom, while Wu earned the team’s only singles win against Villanova, 6-0, 6-2.
This week the women’s team hosts the Stevens Institute of Technology at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, then travels to Swarthmore College and New York University over the weekend.
