The men’s tennis team split a pair of matches against rivals Saturday after falling to Denison University 5-4 and defeating Wittenberg University 9-0 at home.
The team’s first match was against Denison, and the Tigers found themselves up 2-1 after doubles play. Juniors Patrick Farrell and John Daseke won No. 2 doubles by a score of 8-6, while juniors Harold Martin and Nate Wallace won No. 3 doubles by a score of 8-5.
Head Coach Scott Riggle has been impressed with the team’s doubles play throughout the season, but thinks singles play could use some work.
“We are playing pretty good doubles. You know, as you saw, we won five out of six doubles that we played, and that’s coming along really nice for us," he said. "There are still some things we could do better. ...As for singles, we are going to have to get more precise.”
After taking the lead in doubles, the team lost the lead in singles play. Senior Alec Kaczkowski gave them a 3-1 lead with a win at No. 3 singles, but Wittenberg took four straight singles wins at No. 6, No. 5, No. 2 and No. 1. Junior Matt Stanten finished the match off with a win in No. 4 singles, but the match had already been decided.
Kaczkowski was upset with the loss but is excited about the potential opportunity to face them again.
“It's a tough pill to swallow, but again, we will see them again in two weeks and we will be ready this time,” Kaczkowski said.
Looking to bounce back after the Denison loss, Kaczkowski and senior Dan Rodefeld won No. 1 singles 8-1, and Farrell and Daseke took home their second win of the day at No. 2 doubles with a 8-0 win.
Wittenberg forfeited the No. 3 doubles match up because they did not have a group to participate.
The Tigers changed up their singles lineup by moving Kaczkowski up to the No. 2 spot. He responded with a 6-2, 6-3 win. The senior class had a strong showing with Rodefeld, Nick Thompson, Nick Makowiecki and Zach Jonas winning No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively.
After losing earlier in the day, Riggle was pleased with how his team took on Wittenberg.
“After receiving that first loss, the team responded well against Wittenberg and took care of business,” Riggle said.
Riggle believes that the team could potentially face Denison in the conference tournament, and that his team will be ready for the rematch.
“If we play them again in conference, we’ll have to be ready for a good team that will play us tough and not give us too many points,” he said.
The team is now 9-9 overall and 2-1 in the NCAC West division. They conclude the regular season when they travel to Rose Hulman on Tuesday.