The men’s tennis team had mixed results after their weekend meets, while the women’s team had a difficult road trip. On Wednesday, the men’s team shut out Drew University with a 9-0 victory. Saturday, the women lost to Williams College, 7-2. Both the men’s and women’s teams suffered losses on Sunday. The men faced Salisbury University and the women took on Middlebury College.
“On paper the score makes it look like we got crushed, but the match was close at all times,” senior captain Jackie Shtemberg said of the battle against Williams College.
Shtemberg was responsible for the two match wins for the College. She defeated Williams College opponent in her single match and teamed up with sophomore Felice Trinh to win a double’s match, marking her 20th season victory.
“Sometimes like today (Saturday), nerves are keeping us from winning some key points,” Shtemberg explained. Before this week, the women were ranked No. 23.
On Sunday, freshman Karisse Bendijo, freshman Lauren Balsamo and Shtemberg won their single matches against No. 15-ranked Middlebury College, which added points for the Lions. They were defeated in all three double matches. The final score was 6-3, Middlebury.
“The freshman have been a huge influence on the team this year and are amazing,” Shtemberg said.
The women have an impressive season record 12-4. On Sunday April 18, the College will take on Muhlenberg College at 1 p.m. at home.
The men’s team had an impressive 9-0 win over Drew University on Wednesday. Sophomore Stewart Fernandez won the most exciting of the
matches, defeating his opponent in the third set. The competition against Drew also added two wins to sophomore Dan Lee’s record, building his amazing 18-win streak.
On Sunday against nationally ranked No. 14 Salisbury University, the men lost close competition, 4-5. “My expectations for the match was just to make an impact, to let these nationally ranked teams know that this young team has depth, and fight until the end,” Stewart Fernandez said.
Junior Jonathan Yu and freshmen Dean Thompson and Keith Goldstein all won their single matches again Salisbury University. Sophomore brothers Steven and Stewart Fernandez defeated the opposing duo in their doubles match. Their record for the season is now 7-4. Ironically, three of their four loses were to nationally ranked teams, and all four ended with a final score of 4-5. Stewart Fernandez attributes the College’s success thus far to the team’s focused mindset and it’s encouraging coach.
“We are a team that feeds off of each other’s positive attitudes,” he said.
Next Saturday, they will face New York University at 1 p.m. at home.
