Sophomore Dan Rodefeld (left) saves a ball as senior Chris Bertolini (right) looks on.
Bertolini was the North Coast Athletic Conference men's tennis playeer of the week.
SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
DePauw University’s tennis teams played 36 matches this weekend, with the men facing challenges from Rhodes College and Earlham College and the women taking on Olivet Nazarene University and Rhodes as well.
Of those 36 matches, the Tigers lost only four on their way to a pair of weekend sweeps.
For the men, the victories were important as they came into the weekend’s matchups with three straight losses.
“It was a good way to bounce back and give us some confidence after the tough losses,” junior Alex Kaczkowski said. “We are finally starting to get on track with our doubles so our coaches and the team are happy.”
The Tigers opened the weekend on Saturday with an 8-1 win over Rhodes that saw DePauw sweep the three doubles matches and had only the five seed lose in the singles competition.
DePauw’s only loss of the day came when senior Rico Lamanlan fell to Greyson Brilliant 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the five spot.
Sunday was more of the same for the Tigers, as they defeated Earlham 9-0. Sophomore Patrick Farrell and Lamanlan both lost only two games in their matches while sophomore Matt Santen won all twelve games of his match in the six slot.
“During the matches we fought hard and never gave up,” junior Zach Jonas said. “Every position from doubles to singles got increasingly better and the results showed.”
The women also came into the matches after facing some adversity. The Tigers fell 5-2 to Washington University in their first match of the Spring.
“That loss was really tough, especially as a season-opener,” sophomore Maddie Lee said. “The past week at practice, though, was spent working out the kinks that weren’t working so well for us in the WashU matches.”
In Saturday’s first match, the Tigers won two of the three doubles matchups against Olivet Nazarene to open the day with a 2-1 lead.
That was followed up by a comeback performance in the singles matches. After dropping the first to matchups, the final four DePauw competitors all won their matches in straight sets. Of those four, seniors Julie Wittwer and Kaitlin Pickrel won their matches without surrendering a single game.
The singles comebacks helped the Tigers secure a 6-3 win over Olivet Nazarene in the day’s opening match and gave them momentum heading into the afternoon’s matchup with Rhodes.
Rhodes was immediately handicapped against the 11th ranked Tigers as they only fielded two doubles pairs and five singles competitors. This meant that they surrendered the third doubles match and the sixth seeded singles match as well.
When the Lynx did put players on the court, they didn’t fair much better, however.
The Tigers took care of the doubles matches without any problem and then won all five of the singles matches without surrendering a single set. Lee and senior Carolyn Huerth shined the brightest for the Tigers, as they won their matches from the four and five seeds without losing a single game.
“In the WashU match, I was pretty nervous and found myself making errors by missing shots I usually rely on and playing impatiently,” Lee said. “This weekend, I focused on staying mentally calm and moving forward without getting caught up about the actual score and I played a more steady game, so I was pleased about that.”
Next up for the women is a match against the University of Chicago on Friday and then the ITA Division III Indoor Championship on Saturday, both events being held in Greencastle.
“I really think what is going to get us through the season is our support for each other,” Lee said. “Our games will continue to get stronger with our fierce schedule, but the team aspect will definitely be key.”
The men will compete next against Vincennes University on Wednesday evening at DePauw.
Said Jonas: “Moving forward we’re looking to get even stronger and are focused on our next match against Vincennes.”