Trinity men’s and women’s tennis traveled to Memphis, TN. for the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) tournament on April 25-26. Women’s tennis defeated No. 22 Sewanee in the SAA final 4-1 to bring home the conference title. The championship also marks their fifth consecutive conference title. After skating past No. 36 Southwestern University 4-0, men’s tennis fell short to No. 15 Sewanee, 4-3, in the final.
Semifinal: Men’s tennis vs. Southwestern, April 25
The Tigers set the tone early against the Southwestern University Pirates in doubles play behind juniors Kishan Kersten and Jared Perry, who took their set 6-2 against Southwestern’s Christo Langford and Joseph Snyman. Senior duo Aashish Dhanani and Conor Kaczmarczyk followed suit, winning 6-2 against the Pirates’ Ashton Ellis and Landon Sosebee to hand Trinity the doubles point. The Tigers’ point led to junior Ethan Flores and sophomore Roshin Kamath’s set to go unfinished, setting up both teams for singles play.
Kersten and Perry won to open singles play, extending Trinity’s lead to 3-0, placing them on the verge of a championship match berth. Kamath edged out the Pirates’ Nolan Alvarez 6-1, 7-5, giving the Tigers the overall win 4-0. The officials called the remaining matches, punching Trinity’s ticket to the championship round.
Head men’s tennis coach Russell McMindes noted the adjustments the Pirates made and for the Tigers not “to get overly complicated” in preparation for the match.
“We always expect [Southwestern] to play well against us,” McMindes said. “It’s an important match, and they did. They played better than they played against us even a week ago. It was one we had to be ready for and then also be ready for any surges.”
Semifinal: Women’s tennis vs. Rhodes, April 25
Sophomores Katie Schmidt and Lauren Tin kicked things off for the Tigers against the Rhodes College Lynxes, winning their doubles set 6-1. The pair led the way for Trinity’s doubles sweep, beginning the day with a 1-0 advantage over Rhodes.
Tin’s match in singles play helped the Tigers’ momentum, winning 6-1, 6-0 against the Lynxes’ Lily Higgins. Senior Trinity Levy’s match against Sofia Rodriguez played out in similar fashion, defeating her in 6-1, 6-0 sets. Tin and Levy’s match wins increased Trinity’s lead to 3-0 with the game-clinching point in sight. Schmidt called the game for the Tigers, winning her match against Taylor Nash 6-0, 6-1 to win 4-0, sending Trinity to the SAA championship match.
The remaining three games went unfinished with the Tigers’ win secured. Their 4-0 result marks this their fifth consecutive shutout win against Rhodes.
Final: Men’s tennis vs. Sewanee, April 26
Sewanee struck first, taking the doubles point in what would be a closely contested final. Dhanani and Kaczmarczyk dropped their set 6-0 and Kersten and Perry 6-2 to concede the doubles point to Sewanee, 1-0.
Sewanee kept applying pressure on Trinity as Sewanee’s Samuel Schroerlucke took the first game in singles play over Dhanani, 6-3, 6-1. Perry was able to put Trinity on the board with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Sewanee’s Henry Hyden, cutting into Sewanee’s lead 2-1. Kersten tied things up for the Tigers, winning his match to even up the finals with two points apiece. Sewanee did not let up, however, as Lucas Wrigley skidded past Flores 7-6, 6-4, giving Sewanee the 3-2 lead.
As the conference title came down to the wire, Trinity tied Sewanee 3-3 with Kamath’s 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 win against Sewanee’s Max Verellen. With the title-clinching point at stake for both teams, the final point came down to Trinity’s sophomore Ryan Warren’s match against Sewanee’s Ben Lammert. Lammert won the set 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. Sewanee ultimately claimed the SAA crown, beating the Tigers 3-4.
“It’s always exciting when it comes down to the last match for a three or a four score line,” McMindes said. “[It’s] obviously disappointing and didn’t go our way. And for the first time in the new conference, you kind of wanted to be able to go in there with a splash and take care of business and kind of reestablish our identity within that conference, but it didn’t happen. They were too good and pulled it out.”
Final: Women’s tennis vs. Sewanee, April 26
Tigers opened doubles play in finals with closely contested sets. First-year Eva Kovachev and sophomore Allison Vo won their set 6-4 to give Trinity the early advantage against Sewanee. Junior Rosabella Andrade and Levy conceded their set against Mariella Congeni and Ivy Wilson, leaving it up to Schmidt and Tin to play a tie-breaking set. The sophomore duo edged out Sewanee’s Emma Foster and Lucy Lee 7-6 (7-4) to give Trinity the doubles point 1-0.
In singles play, Levy and Tin won their respective matches to inch the Tigers closer to their first SAA title with a 3-0 lead. Schmidt dropped her set against Emma Foster 2-6, 1-6, giving Sewanee their only point of the day, 3-1. Andrade took the title-clinching set against Harper High, 7-5, 6-3 to bring home the SAA conference championship, 4-1.
Women’s tennis takes the at-large berth in the NCAA Division III tournament from their SAA win and await the committee’s decision on their opponent while men’s tennis awaits a potential playoff berth. The NCAA will announce that on May 4, with playoffs scheduled for May 8-10.
