Tennis teams look forward to beginning conference play

SCOTT WEIR

Staff Writer

Just back from their spring break trip to sunny California, the women’s tennis team brought a 1-3 record to its match last weekend away against Kalamazoo College. Unfortunatly for the women, though, a score of 2-7 added a fourth loss to their record, their second in conference play.

While in California the women played some tough competition including nationally ranked Biola University and Division II Lake Superior State University. Their victory came in California against Whittier College in a 6-0 shutout.

Captain Lindsey Thelen (05) commented, “We just got back from California and it was a time to get together and know each other .We were also hoping to get experience and get some playing done. It was a fun time.” Of the season Thelen said, “We all look forward to a successful exciting season. We have a challenging schedule ahead of us.”

Head Coach, Chi Ly, added saying, “There’s only three returners and six new faces. The team is young and inexperienced but the talent is there. It’s a rebuilding year and we should finish in the middle of the pack for the MIAA.” The women will see their next MIAA match at Calvin College this Wednesday.

The men’s team also headed toward warmer climates over spring break, starting their tennis season with three matches in Florida. These proved to be tough teams and the men’s team posted three tallies the loss column to start the season. These came in the form of a 0-9 loss to both Florida Gulf Coast and Lake Superior State University, and a 2-7 loss to St. Thomas University.

Head Coach Brandan Snook was still impressed with the team play. “It (the record) is not as bad as it sounds. I try to schedule hard teams leading into the season. The guys managed to play some great tennis and we were able to see what we really needed to work on.”

Captain Rob Nicholson (04) is optimistic about the season as well. He said, “We will be strong through conference play if we can stay healthy. Overuse injuries became a problem over spring break and we were forced to take a week off after the trip. We are back to good health and are looking forward to playing fellow Division III athletes in the near future.”

The men’s team is looking to move up from a fifth place finish last year and knock out Albion for the fourth spot. The men’s team will travel this Thursday to Grand Valley State University.

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