The Lions swept the courts this weekend as the men’s and women’s tennis teams each collected another win to add to the team’s record and senior Stef Haar reached a career milestone with 125 career wins. The men now sit at 8-5 this season, and the woman at 7-4. The women’s team triumphed over Muhlenberg College 9-0 on Sunday April 18 and the men were right behind with an 8-1 win against New York University on Saturday April 17, but an 8-1 loss to Trinity College on Sunday April 18.
The men took first in all three doubles matches against the Bobcats with sophomores Steve Fernandez and Stewart Fernandez gaining an 8-5 win, freshmen T.J. Riley and Dean Thompson gathering an 8-1 win and junior Jonathan Yu and sophomore Dan Lee finishing the match 8-2. In singles, the Lions won all but one match, with freshman Keith Goldstein, Stewart Fernandez, Thompson, Yu and Lee each winning their match in two sets.
In the match against Trinity College, the men’s team took a harsh setback, with Goldstein being the only player to gain a win. The freshman collected his team-leading 17th singles win, defeating sophomore Charles McConnell of the Bantams in two sets, 6-2, 6-4.
“I’m glad I was able to play my part and contribute to the team the best I could,” said Goldstein. “I’m just going to stay focused and stay hungry in order to be successful before the end of the season.”
The 8-1 loss put the Lions at 8-5 for the season. The women’s team increased the home winning streak to 18 after defeating the Mules at home on Sunday. Haar led the Lions with a 6-2, 6-1 win in fourth singles, which helped her to reach 125 combined victories in her career. Haar has gathered 66 wins in singles and 59 in doubles.
“Hitting the 125 wins is sort of unreal,” Haar said. “I’ve just been working so hard to focus on winning to help my team that I forgot I had an individual record. I think I achieved this success through dedication to hard work and to striving for my personal best.”
Haar’s win in singles was not the only one for the Lions. Senior Jackie Shtemberg, freshmen Karisse Bendijo, Lauren Balsamo and Paige Aiello and sophomore Emily Petersack each picked up a win for the team, as well, all finishing their matches in two sets.
Doubles teams of Shtemberg and Trihn, Aiello and Bendijo, and Balsamo and Petersack swept the competition with three wins of 8-1, 8-6 and 8-1.
The win over Muhlenberg College puts the Lions at 13-4 overall this season.
“With two matches left in the season, I think we need to focus on going out and playing our game,” Petersack said. The women’s tennis team’s season will come to an end on Saturday April 24. “We need to come out strong from the very beginning and play with a lot of energy throughout the match.”
The Lions are scheduled to face Bates College on Wednesday April 21 with the men playing at 10 a.m. and women’s team at 1:30.
