Elizabethtown College’s men’s tennis team almost managed to secure its first victory of the 2015 season on Saturday afternoon against Catholic University. The Blue Jays were defeated 5-4. Things started off well as first-year Michael Yost and junior Evan Hinkley snagged a No. 3 doubles 9-7 win from Catholic’s Conor Wilson and Brendan Rooney in the doubles competition. Etown sophomores Ryan Caris and Nathan Dowling also won their No. 2 doubles match giving the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead ahead of the Cardinals. This was the first time this season that Etown won two double matches. “As we play better teams like Catholic, we have to play more aggressive.” Coach Matt Helsel said.
The team did not have the same amount of success in the singles competition, however. The Blue Jays suffered defeat to the Cardinals in No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 matches putting Catholic in the lead at 4-2. Caris was Etown’s only hope of evening the score in his game against Catholic’s Wilson. Caris won the first set 7-5 but was unable to keep his victory streak, losing both the second set 6-4 and the finale 6-2.
Despite losing, the team would not consider their loss to Catholic a failure. “We played to what we thought our strengths were,” Helsel said. “The score wouldn’t indicate it but we actually played really well.” None of the Blue Jays blame Caris for his loss against Wilson. “We win as a team; we lose as a team,” team captain and senior Michael Cannon said. Each of the players work hard to improve both individually and as a team.
On Sunday, April 12 the team took on the regionally-ranked Salisbury University Sea Gulls. The Blue Jays did not gain momentum and suffered a 9-0 shutout against the Sea Gulls. Cannon and sophomore Alex Machalick were put up against the regionally ranked duo of Daniel Albers and Eric Spangler in the No. 1 doubles competition. While Cannon and Machalick were able to win one set, they could not keep their success and lost 8-1.
Albers who is ranked at the 22nd singles player in the ITA Atlantic South Region crushed Cannon in the No. 1 singles competition. Machalick went up against the Sea Gulls’ Spangler, who is ranked 25th in the region in the No. 2 singles match. After a bleak first,set Machalick was able to win three games in the second before being overpowered in a 6-3 defeat.
Etown’s Hinkley performed well in his No. 6 game against Salisbury’s Adam Goldberger but also suffered a 6-4 loss. Caris took on Shanon Gunther and took three games before losing at a score of 6-2.
Despite the rough season the team has been having, they are not discouraged. “We’re all itching for that first win,” Cannon said. “We all really want it.” This season the team has been focusing on playing better doubles and playing more aggressively. Cannon’s encouragement for his fellow teammates is always the same, “Play every match the same: play hard and play Etown tennis.”
Helsel maintains that the team is still having a successful season. “I would say that as far as our team chemistry, learning the game, growing as a group and figuring out how to win matches goes, we are improving and having a successful season by those standards,” Coach Helsel said.
The Blue Jays defeated Susquehanna University on Tuesday afternoon, 9-0, to earn the team’s first victory of the 2015 spring season.
