The Trinity men’s tennis team””ranked third in the nation in Division III””went 2-1 on the weekend after opening Friday, Feb. 6, with a win against Hardin-Simmons University, and splitting their two matches on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Abilene Christian University Indoor Tournament. The Tigers then lost 4-3 Thursday, Feb. 12, in their home opener against St. Edward’s University
The women’s tennis team also competed in a single match on Saturday, Feb. 7, against Division I University of Incarnate Word, and lost 5-2.
“All I told the guys was that I didn’t expect brilliance in regard to play, but really wanted to see how they compete and the mental toughness,” said men’s head coach Russell McMindes.
Friday afternoon, the men opened the weekend with a 9-0 route of Hardin-Simmons University.
Seniors Jordan Mayer and Aaron Skinner won No. 1 doubles at 8-2, junior Adam Krull and sophomore Clayton Niess won at No. 2 at 8-2, and senior Charlie Curtis and sophomore Chas Mayer won 8-0 at No. 3.
In their singles matches, Trinity won all six matches while only dropping one set at the No. 2 line with Skinner going 6-3, 4-6, 11-9.
Saturday, they opened ACU Indoor play with a 6-1 loss to Tyler Junior College, which is the third-ranked junior college program in the country.
In all matches played at Division I schools this weekend, the Tigers competed under the Division I scoring rules. This included no-ad scoring and a single, six-game set in doubles play.
“The no-ad scoring created a few pivotal points in each match, and unfortunately those did not go our way,” Krull said. “TJC played solid and aggressive tennis at every position, which was too good on that day.”
The Tigers won only two matches against TJC at the No. 2 doubles 6-4, and at the No. 5 singles with Curtis getting the 6-4, 6-2 win.
In their last match of the weekend, the Tigers faced off against the host school””Division I ACU””and pulled out a hard fought 4-3 win.
“We showed up for the second match with high intensity and fought hard on every court, “Krull said.
The Tigers took the doubles point after winning 6-4 in both the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches. They closed out the match by winning in the top three singles spots with Krull, Mayer and Skinner getting the wins. Krull won his match in straight sets to give the Tigers two points in the match. Mayer and Skinner both had to win in close three-set matches to earn the victory for the Tigers.
Next the Tigers lost 4-3 to Division II St. Edwards.
They opened the match by sweeping the doubles to secure the doubles point. No.1, Skinner and Mayer, and No. 3, senior Pablo Diaz Boom and junior Eliot Guin, both won 8-4, while the No. 2, Krull and Niess, won 8-6.
In singles, they lost four of the six matches, with three of them going to a third set. The only two wins for the Tigers were Skinner 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) at No. 2 and Mayer 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 3.
Saturday Fec. 7, the women lost a close battle, 2-5, against UIW.
They opened the match going 1-2 in doubles, and losing the doubles point.
At No. 1, first years Marie Lutz and Southwick lost a very close 6-4 match. At No. 2 first years Blaire Porter and Cheyenne Duncan lost 6-3, and the lone win for the Tigers was Caroline White and Gabi Roe at No. 3, 6-0.
The lone singles victory of the match was Lutz at No. 2, (7-5, 6-3) and Porter at No. 4 (6-2, 6-3). White and Southwick both lost in close, hard-fought three-set matches.
Although UIW is Division I competition, the Tigers look forward to matches like this as practice for tough Division III teams.
“These are all practice matches for us””of course we take them seriously””but it’s just another chance for us to keep getting better,” Southwick said.
At 3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 13, the women play Division II St. Edward’s University, and 11 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. take on University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
At 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 14 the men will play at UIW, and then at 3:30 p.m. they will home to face Laredo Community College.
