The regular season is coming to a close for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams as each traveled to play one match on a rainy Saturday, April 11.
After a rain delay, the men fell 6-1 to the Division I University of Texas at San Antonio.
“You see a lot more depth at the DI level,” said junior Adam Krull. “Playing DIII, sometimes the lineup can drop off a little bit towards the bottom. This gets really good matches for our people lower in the lineup””it gets them match tough and gets them ready to go.”
The match started with UTSA getting the sweep, and the point, in doubles. Seniors Jordan Mayer and Aaron Skinner lost 8-3 at No. 1, first year Alvaro Hobbs and Krull lost 8-2 at No. 2, and senior Charlie Curtis and sophomore Chas Mayer were edged 8-5 at the No. 3 line.
In singles, the lone win for the Tigers came from C. Mayer at No. 5. He won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.Krull (6-3, 6-0 at No.1), Skinner (6-2, 6-3 at No. 3) and first-year Kevin Lee (6-0, 6-1) all fell in straight sets. J. Mayer (No. 2) and Curtis (No. 4) each were edged in their matches in third set tiebreakers.
“I’m really proud of our guys. I feel like everybody will bring the effort even when the match doesn’t really count for that much anymore,” Krull said.
Mayer won the first set 6-3, but lost the second 6-4. He was up in the tiebreaker 8-5 before falling 10-8. Curtis lost the first set 6-3, and fought back in the second to take it 7-6 (7-4). He went down early in the third set tiebreaker however and was not able to recover, losing it 10-7.
The men are No. 7 in the ITA rankings in Division III
At 10 a.m. Saturday, April 18 they play Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent Colorado College at Southwestern University in Georgetown, and at 5 p.m. that day they play at the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, Texas.
At 10 a.m. Sunday, April 19 they play at No. 19 University of Texas at Tyler, and at 3 p.m. they play the University of the Ozarks (AR) in Tyler, Texas.
The women were unable to finish their match against Schreiner University in Kerrville due to rain. They finished the doubles””getting the 3-0 sweep””but were unable to play the singles matches.
“It was really important for our number one doubles to get that match in””they are trying to qualify for individual nationals in Ohio, which is at the end of May. So just getting that match””a Division III match””really helps them,” said women’s head coach Gretchen Rush.
Sophomore Liza Southwick and first year Marie Lutz were down 5-2 early in their No. 1 doubles match, but came roaring back to win six straight games and take the match 8-5. They are 5-9 at No. 1 doubles this season.
“Marie and I struggled early in our match, and if it wasn’t for our team cheering to boost us up, that match could have been a lot different,” Southwick said.
Juniors Caroline White and Gaby Roe earned an 8-0 shutout at No. 2. First years Cheyenne Duncan and Nicole Rueb finished it off for the Tigers with an 8-3 win at the No. 3 line. Their final home match of the season against Texas A&M at Kingsville was cancelled due to rain.
“We did come back from California””when we had four matches in a row””with some injuries,” Rush said. “That is probably our biggest concern right now is getting everybody healthy. So not playing is actually good for us right now.”
The women have a 6-8 record this season, and are ranked No. 31 in the Division III ITA rankings.
At 3 p.m. today, April 17, the Tigers play at No. 38 Texas-Tyler and at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, April 18, they play at Texas-Dallas.
