he Elizabethtown College men’s tennis team traveled to Salisbury University April 3 where they saw their six-match unbeaten streak come to an end. Salisbury won two of the three doubles matches and five of six on the singles side, which beat the Blue Jays overall 7-2 in a non-conference match.
“I am not going to sugar-coat it, we played pretty poorly against Salisbury,” Coach Matt Helsel said. “Hats off to them, they were tough, but we played them very close last year and this year we did not bring the same level of determination. That match offers us a chance to see what happens when we are not competing at the level we are capable of, and I expect we will do everything possible to ensure we do compete at that level for our remaining matches, whoever they are against.” However, a positive aspect that came out of the match against Salisbury was that senior Paul Whitman netted two wins and reached 100 career combined wins.
The Blue Jays returned to the court April 6 to take on the Flying Dutchmen at Lebanon Valley College. Take them on they did, and Etown destroyed LVC 9-0 in their Commonwealth Conference match.
Whitman and senior Billy Freitag became Etown’s first doubles team to reach 10 wins this season with an 8-2 win over LVC. Seniors Eric Fritzges and Josh Riehl, number 1 doubles teammates, evened their season record by recording an 8-1 triumph over their opponents. Just like Whitman and Freitag, junior Cole Turula and sophomore Mike Cannon won with an 8-2 count against their opponents for their third doubles match win.
Riehl raised his career total to 96 with two wins in singles. He is striving to join Whitman and Fritzges to become the third Etown player this season to reach 100 career victories this season and the fifth overall. Nevertheless, Whitman and Fritzges did not stop there. Both won in doubles and singles competitions to collect their 101st and 102nd wins.
Continuing with more positive energy were Turula and Cannon, who were straight-set winners at fourth and fifth singles. Junior Joe Kirchner won his second match of the year against his LVC opponent in a singles match. A commanding 8-1 win April 7 against King’s College makes Etown 8-1 overall and 2-0 in the Commonwealth Conference.
The women’s team also suffered a loss to Salisbury April 3. The doubles pair of sophomores Christine Evangelista and Kaitlyn Pellegrino notched the only Etown victory in the 8-1 loss. However, the women also responded strongly with wins over LVC and Hood College. Etown beat LVC 7-2. All six singles matches in the match against the Dutchmen were won by the Blue Jays.
Against the Blazers, Etown took the 9-0 sweep. Evangelista and Pellegrino won their fifth straight match in doubles play. Senior Kristi Noecker claimed her 67th career singles win against Hood. With one more singles win, Noecker will tie the school record for singles wins at 68.
When asked about how the season has started off, Helsel said, “I do not spend a lot of time looking at records but I think someone told me we are off to our best start in school history. I know it is at least our best since I have been here. We have a lot of depth and experience, which helps a lot.” He also wants his players to be committed to competing hard and improving. “If we do that I will be satisfied with the results, whatever they may be. We have an outstanding group of team-first players, and I am excited to see where the journey of the season may lead,” he said.
The players also expect a lot out of themselves and their teammates. Cannon said, “I expect the team to play to the best of their ability. We have practiced every day and will continue to do so to be ready for matches.” Going along with those thoughts, Kirchner said, “for the upcoming matches, we as a team expect strong competition from the rest of our conference and non-conference opponents.”
The Blue Jays’ conference opponents include Messiah, who usually has a solid team. For their non-conference opponents, they have Wilkes and Kutztown, which will test their abilities to the max. Cannon said, “I think this season will be a successful one as they have been for the past couple of seasons.” Agreeing with him Kirchner threw in, “if we do manage to win another conference championship, it will be our third one in the last four years.”
