The men's and women's tennis teams both had a bittersweet taste in their mouths this week after their trip to Massachusetts.
Both of the teams came away with one win and one loss. The women competed on Friday and Saturday against Babson College and Wellesley College, respectively, while the men faced off on Friday against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Saturday against Babson.
For the women's team, the match against Babson was their 11th win of the season. It was also the Lion's second consecutive shutout. Because of harsh weather outside, the match was forced indoors. Highlighting the victory was a win by the Lion's junior Jackie Shtemberg and freshman Felice Trinh in their doubles match against Babson's No. 1 team of Heather Walsh and Courtney Farrell by a score of 8-5. Additionally, junior Stefanie Haar and senior Haley Kutner won their doubles match 8-5 against Babson's junior Liz Sheerin and Rebecca Stone.
The next day, the Lions went up against No. 19 ranked Wellesley. The 6-3 defeat was a tough one to swallow for the Lions due to the significance of the match.
"Today was one of the biggest matches of the season and while the loss was disappointing, we have to move on from it and focus on the rest of the season," Kutner said.
Singles competition played tough all day as three of the six competitors won their matches. Shtemberg won her matches 6-2, 6-1. Haar and senior Lindsay Katzel also won their singles matches.
It was in doubles competition where the Lions really suffered the most. All three tandems the College put out were defeated. Junior Tamra Wroblesky and partner freshman Christie Pollin fell 8-4 to Wellesley's Mohona Siddique and Jacqueline Shen. Haar and Kutner also lost their doubles match 9-8, 7-2. The Lions' powerful tandem of Shtemberg and Trinh also fell 8-6. "Trinh and I played a tough doubles match but we just need to keep on working on understanding each other's strengths and making the most of them," Shtemberg said.
Although a loss is disappointing, the Lions walked away with a few promising notes.
"All the matches we lost were very close and could have gone the other way if we won a few extra points. Therefore as nationals get closer, this match just reaffirms the fact that we have the ability to pull a huge upset," Kutner said.
The men's team saw their five- game win streak come to an abrupt halt when they ran into a very tough MIT team. The 6-3 loss put the College at a 6-2 mark on the season.
Freshman Edgar Shanoyan continued his impressive season with another victory over MIT's Peden Nichols 6-2, 7-5. Dan Lee also won his singles competition 6-2, 4-6 (10-5). Those were the bright spots for the College's singles competitors. Teammates junior Jeremy Eckardt and freshman Stewart Fernandez successfully won their match 8-6.
It did not take long for the Lions to bounce back with a victory the next day against Babson, 6-3. Like the women's game, the match was moved indoors because of inclement weather. The Lion's looked dominant in their victory with Eckardt, sophomore Jonathan Yu, Fernandez and Shanoyan winning their singles matches.
The Lions swept the board in doubles competition. Dan Lee and Bill Carrig played a back-and-forth game against Justin Albert and Moises Numa, but came away with the 8-6 victory.
"I think our team will come back strong, especially since we did beat Babson right after MIT. We can't win them all," Fernandez said.
