Senior Eric Bruynseels fires a ball back at an oppent DePauw's 4-5
loss against Division II University of Indianapolis.
SAM CARAVANA/THE DEPAUW
The currently 24th ranked men’s tennis team began the season with a shutout win against Principia College, but then fell to two other teams. On Tuesday, the Tigers hosted Division II University of Indianapolis and narrowly lost (5-4) to the Greyhounds.
DePauw’s singles players, seniors Chris Bertolini and Rico Lumanlan along with junior Alec Kaczkowski all won their matches, with Lumanlan coming back after losing his first set 0-6 to defeat his opponent two sets to one.
Kaczkowski also played doubles, partnered with senior Eric Vannatta, which was the only DePauw doubles team that had a victory on Tuesday.
“It felt great to play as well as Alec and I did and get a win against Indianapolis,” Vannatta said. “I was not in the singles lineup, so winning my doubles match was very important to me so that I could get my point and help the team as much as I could.”
Kaczkowski also felt good about the way he and his partner played Tuesday.
“It was a great confidence booster for my partner and I,” said Kaczkowski. “We are starting off the season doing the right things so we are hoping to continue that this weekend against Rhodes and Earlham.”
Beyond the personal victories though, for a Tiger’s team that is nationally ranked, three losses in the first four matches of the season isn’t acceptable.
“Honestly, the team we played was a very winnable match and I think most of us were pretty disappointed in our performance,” said Kaczkowski. “But we do have some positives to look at and some things to work on, so myself as well as the team is viewing the loss as a learning experience to apply to our next match.”
Seeing as University of Indianapolis is a DII team, it’s still impressive that the Tigers were able to be competitive with them.
“Indianapolis played very well and we were right there with them,” Vannatta said. “The match just came down to a few points on a few courts and, unfortunately, we were on the losing end of it.”
Kaczkowski seems positive about the future of the season, however.
“The team knows it's a long season,” Kaczkowski said. “We're obviously disappointed with our start but the level of competition has been extremely high. We know that if we just come to practice, work hard, and get better every day that we will improve and be in a great position to end the season on a very high note.”
Sophomore Matt Santen believes the team is coming together through the losses. "We're getting better with each match," Santen said.
DePauw hosts Rhodes College in their next match on Saturday at 4 p.m.