By Christine Houghton
Sports Editor
Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams took to the court for their season-opening matches on Saturday, Aug. 31 for the Doubles Kickoff Tournament against both Southern Virginia University and The University of the Sciences, which the College hosted. The women then went on to face both Rutgers University-Newark and Rutgers University-Camden the next day to open their dual matches.
On Saturday, the men’s team performed well, winning six out of the 10 matches. Sophomore Matthew Michibata had a strong start, ending his first two doubles matches in victory, one with fellow sophomore Justin Wain and the other paired alongside freshman Nick Matkiwsky.
Matkiwsky won earlier in the day, as he and fellow freshman Sean Riley topped their Southern Virginia opponents in the first round.
Shortly after, freshman Rahul Panoli and sophomore Nikola Kilibarda also won their match against Southern Virginia.
During the second round, freshmen Adam Yu and Oliver Rodriguez shut out their Southern Virginia opponents 8-0, while Wain and senior Thomas Wright won their doubles match as well.
The women’s team gave a stellar performance in the same match, winning 13 out of 14 matches. Freshman Anusha Rangu won two matches, one alongside sophomore Katrine Luddy and the other with senior Audrey Chen. Both Luddy and Chen also won matches of their own.
Sophomores Amy Yan, Ally Yan and Julia Yoon all had two wins on the day alongside junior Laura Suarez, who claimed victory twice paired with Yoon. Doubles wins were also taken by sophomore Sarah Phung and freshman Ariella Shlugleyt.
Sophomore Navya Yemula won both of her matches as well, one partnered with Chen and the other paired with freshman Charlotte Roarty.
Freshmen Jenny Landells and Alexandria Vasile each won two matches of their own on the day.
The women’s team took on Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark on Sunday, Sept. 1, shutting out both teams 9-0 in a doubleheader. Vasile and Roarty partnered for a 8-1 win and collectively won seven matches on the day of both doubles and singles.
Landells and Yemula teamed up for an 8-0 shutout and Landells swept all her matches for the day. Chen, Yan, Yan, Yoon, Phung and Shlugleyt also won all their matches during the contest.
The men’s team hosts New York University on Saturday, Sept. 7 and Sunday, Sept. 8 for the Lions’ Fall Tournament, while the women’s team returns to the court today at 4 p.m. for a dual match on the road against Stockton University.
