On Saturday, Feb. 22, the Elizabethtown tennis teams started their season and celebrated their senior days a week before spring break with games against the Lancaster Bible College Chargers. Both games occurred in the Bowers Center Fieldhouse.
The crisp Saturday morning started with a series of doubles matches. Etown Elizabethtown sSenior Sam Langer and Elizabethtown Jjunior Ethan Zelinsky took on Lancaster Bible jJunior Austin King and Lancaster Bible Ssenior Andrew Kelly towards the back end of the Bowers Center Fieldhouse. Throughout the first few parts of the game, Zelinsky helped keep the ball in play with some rallying before Langer interrupted with a swing and a score for the Jays.
It took the Chargers some time before they could break past the Blue Jays’ teamwork. By the time they finally won a game, the Jays had already won four. The momentum from this victory did carry over into the sixth game as Lancaster Bible did earned another game, but a spike from Langer shut down any efforts to win the seventh game. The Chargers tried to keep up—with one of them sprinting across the field to keep the ball in play—but the match ultimately went in Etown’s Elizabethtown’s favor, earning them the win with a score of 6-3.
Every doubles match essentially played out the same for the men’s team. Blue JayElizabethtown Ffirst-Yyear Austin Kohler and Elizabethtown Jjunior Isaac Reichenbach shut down their opponents with a final score of 6-2, and Etown Elizabethtown Ssophomore Stefanos Billis and Elizabethtown Jjunior Max Lauver dominateddid better with their match ending in a score of 6-1.
The singles matches followed afterward, with Kohler and Lancaster Bible Jjunior Owen Mileham taking the court in the back. The hallmark trait of their matches was their quick and powerful shots, as both athletes shot fiercely throughout their games. One shot nearly missed hitting the roof after being deflected by Mileham’s racket. Mileham tried to keep up with Kolher’s offensce by sliding and sprinting to keep the rally going, but it was not enough to get ahead. Kolher took both matches with scores of 6-1 and 6-4.
Every other men’s singles match also went similarly for the Blue Jays, as they racked up win after win. Etown Elizabethtown Ssophomore Kyler Henne completely shut down Kelly during their games, preventing his opponentthe Lancaster Bible athlete from earning a single win. Meanwhile, Langer and King were locked in a set of close matches towards the event’s end. Despite King’s efforts to earn Lancaster Bible their first point of the day with a tie game in the second match, Langer came out on top with scores of 6-4 and 7-6.
The women’s games continued the strong performance throughout the day. Aside from a few matches where Etown Elizabethtown won by default due to a missing player on the Lancaster Bible team, most matches ended with a significant lead for the Blue Jays. The Chargers didn’t let the women’s matches also end in a complete shut-out, however. Lancaster Bible jJuniors Jania Weist and Susannah Clawser turned the tables on Blue Jay Elizabethtown Sseniors Katie Balzano and Adrianna Burmeister during their doubles match with a score of 1-6. Clawser went on to win their doubles with a score of 6-2 across both games, while Weist’s single against Etown Elizabethtown Ssenior Gabriella Palladini turned into an intense back-and-forth. During their third match, both players kept the other from winning by continually establishing a tie. Weist eventually broke the tie, causing their final set to end with a score of 9-11.When everything was over, the Blue Jays came out on top. The men’s team finished with an overall score of 7-0, and the women’s team achieved a score of 5-2. After diving into the Landmark Conference with their match against Juniata, both teams will compete against Catholic University on Elizabethtown’s Alumni Courts on March 1st.
