During spring break, both teams traveled to Southern California to play a combined 10 matches. The women finished 2-2, while the men went 3-3. Both played highly-ranked Division III teams.
Feb. 26, the Trinity women lost to St. Mary’s University 8-1. Their lone win was Blaire Porter’s three set victory at No. 5 singles.
Their match March 1 against Rollins College was cancelled due to rain.
March 6, they lost in their home opener to Tyler Junior College 7-2.
The lone doubles win was a 9-7 match at No. 3 with Gabi Roe and Caroline White. In singles, their only win was Roe’s at No. 5 6-3, 7-5.
March 8, they opened their spring break trip with a 9-0 win against the California Institute of Technology at the Riviera Tennis Club.
The Tigers swept the doubles play, and won five of their six singles matches in straight sets. The lone three set match was Cheyenne Duncan at No. 5 singles.
March 9, they lost 7-2 against No. 6 Bowdoin College in Claremont, California. The only wins were Marie Lutz 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 at No. 2 and Blaire Porter 7-6, 6-0 at No. 4.
March 10, they lost 8-1 at No. 8 Pomona-Pitzer University. The Tigers started with two 8-6 losses at No. 1 (Liza Southwick/Lutz) and No. 2 (Porter/Duncan) doubles, and an 8-0 loss at No. 3 (White/Roe). They lost in straight sets in five out of the six singles matches. The lone win was a three set victory 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 for White at No. 3.
“Bowdoin and Pomona””especially in doubles””we were right there with them, and they just ended up coming out on top that day,” Southwick said. “It’s stuff you learn from those matches that will carry on to the other matches, and hopefully bring out the win later in the season.”
March 11, they finished their California trip with a 7-2 win at No. 31 Chapman College.
“We were really happy with that win because it showed even though we had tough matches before, we were able to pull it together right before the end of the trip,” Southwick said.
They swept the doubles, and Southwick and Porter clinched the match for the Tigers with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 1 and a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 4 respectively.
The No. 40 Tiger women are now 5-7 overall this season.
March 1, the Tiger men lost 8-1 against Tyler Junior College, with the only win coming from Clayton Niess 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 at No. 3 singles.
They started their California road trip March 9, with an 8-1 victory against No. 8 Kenyon in Whittier, California.
The Tigers opened the match going 3-0 in doubles. Then in singles, Adam Krull won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1; Aaron Skinner won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2; Niess won 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4; Charlie Curtis won 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5; and Chas Mayer won 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6.
“Kenyon was our best win for sure,” Krull said. “To see everybody battling back in their singles matches, I thought it definitely showed what we are all about as a team””how we never give up and we support one another even when things don’t look the best for us.”
March 10 they beat No. 24 California Lutheran University 6-3. It was 2-1 after doubles with wins at No. 2 (Krull/Niess) and No. 3 (Curtis/C. Mayer).
They secured the victory with wins at No. 2 (6-4, 6-7, 7-6), No. 3 (Jordan Mayer 6-4, 6-2), No. 5 (6-4, 6-2) and No. 6 (4-6, 6-1, 6-2) singles.
March 11, they fell 5-4 to No. 11 Carnegie Mellon University in Claremont, California. The Tigers had the 2-1 lead going into singles, and got wins at No. 3 (6-3, 6-7, 6-0) and No. 6 (3-6, 6-0, 6-2) to tie the overall score, but Skinner fell in the final match at No. 2 singles 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
March 13, they beat No. 15 Whitman College 6-3 in opening round of the Stag-Hen tournament in Claremont, California.
They were 2-1 after doubles. Then Krull won in straight sets, while Skinner, J. Mayer and Curtis all won in three sets to clinch the match.
Later that afternoon, in the semifinal round, they lost to No. 9 Pomona Pitzer 7-2. They were swept in doubles. The only wins came from Krull (6-0, 2-6, 6-0) and Niess (6-3, 7-5).
March 14, they finished with a 6-3 loss to No. 5 Washington University-St. Louis in the third place match. They went 1-2 after doubles.
In singles, the Tigers went two for six with Krull (7-6 7-1, 6-0) and C. Mayer (7-5, 4-6, 12-10) both getting hard fought wins at No. 1 and No. 5 respectively.
“Anytime you can play the top level competition it only makes you better, and hopefully that translates to better performances in the postseason,” said men’s head coach Russell McMines
The men fell to No. 6 in the national rankings, and are 10-6 overall.
The men and women host Midwestern State University at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively, on Friday, March 27, at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 28.
The women’s team competes against Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas.
The men’s team then faces off against the Texas Lutheran University at home at 9 a.m., and play St. Mary’s University at 2 p.m. away in San Antonio, Texas.
