Over spring break, the men’s tennis team headed on a road trip through California, ending the week 3-2.
“We ended up with a 3-2 record which of the teams we played was really positive,” said junior Nicolas Moreno. “We were able to beat a higher””ranked team and we gave pretty good battles to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and California Lutheran.”
On Friday, March 8, the men’s tennis team lost 6-3 to California Lutheran University, who was ranked 6th at the time. Sophomore Charlie Curtis won the only singles match for the Tigers, while Curtis and junior Nicolas Moreno won in the No. 2 position in doubles and junior Greg Haugen and first year Connor Dunn won at the third spot for the Tigers.
“In the losses that we had, even though they were all pretty decisive, I think we had some close matches that could have gone either way,” Dunn said.
The next morning, the Tigers lost 7-2 to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Moreno and sophomore Jordan Mayer won in singles in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, for Trinity.
“CMS is just a very strong team,” McMindes said. “They are extremely deep and have high level players playing at all positions.”
Two days later, Trinity came back to clinch a 7-2 victory against seventh-ranked Case Western Reserve University in Redlands, Ohio. The Tigers swept the doubles matches, led by senior Erick De la Fuente and Mayer in the first position, and followed by Moreno and Curtis and Haugen and Dunn.
“Our doubles went really well the entire trip,” Dunn said. “Especially since doubles is always played first in the matches, that tends to give us a pretty good advantage over other teams.”
In singles play, sophomore Aaron Skinner won in the first position, followed by Haugen in the third position, Moreno in fourth and Mayer in fifth.
“Case Western is another team similar to us in that they have solid doubles and pretty solid depth throughout their singles lineup,” McMindes said.
The Tigers finished off their California road trip with an 8-1 win over Carnegie Mellon University on Tuesday, March 12. Skinner won in the first position in singles, followed by Haugen in the third position, Mayer in fourth, Curtis, and Dunn. In doubles play, Skinner and Mayer won in the No. 1 spot, Moreno and Curtis won in the second spot, and Haugen and Dunn won in the third position.
“We played better at the end, and it gave us a good look at what we can do for the rest of the season,” Moreno said.
The Tigers returned home on Wednesday to beat John Hopkins University 5-4. Haugen and Dunn got the only win in doubles at the No. 3 spot. Skinner won in singles in the first position, followed by Haugen at No. 3, De La Fuente and Mayer.
“This last match showed how capable and strong we are,” Moreno said. “We’re recognized for being good doubles players, and it was pretty great to show that we’re strong in singles as well.”
