By Kevin Hornibrook
News Editor
Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams faced the University of the Sciences on Feb. 19, kicking off their spring campaigns with an impressive showing against the Devils. The matches, which were both held in the College’s Rec Center, saw the women cruise to an 8-1 victory as the men followed with a more contested 6-3 win.
The women’s team started the morning match with three dominant performances from the doubles teams. Juniors Charlotte Roarty and Jenny Landells — a pair whose last loss in dual-match play came over two years ago — notched an 8-3 win in their set. Junior Alexa Vasile and sophomore Chase Eisenberg won 8-4 in the second doubles spot, with junior Anusha Rangu and freshman Aira Abalos completing the doubles sweep, 8-1.
Singles were much closer during the first sets, but consistent play kept the Lions ahead.
Eisenberg and Abalos were able to take down their Devil counterparts in two sets, while sophomore Morgan Grimmie suffered the team’s only loss, 6-1, 6-2. Roarty, Vasile, and Rangu each battled for three competitive sets, all resulting in wins.
While the match may have already been decided, Vasile’s third set was turned into a nail-biter. Coming off a 7-5 loss in the second set, she battled for 20 games, eventually clinching after winning her 11th.
The men took to the courts next, taking two of the three doubles matches to put them ahead going into singles play. Sophomore Derek Jordan and senior Nikola Kiribarda controlled an 8-3 win. Seniors Matthew Michibata and Justin Wain fell in the first doubles spot, 8-3, while junior Akul Telluri and senior Nick Matkiwsky needed a tiebreaker to finish their winning set.
Michibata and freshman Dorian Makarski picked up a pair of two-set singles wins for the Lions, while Kiribarda lost, 6-4, 6-4. After junior Rahul Panoli lost a third set 10-7, UScience brought the total score to 4-3, as two matches were still in play. Needing one more win to clinch the match, junior Adrian Tsui delivered and closed out his third set, 10-8. Telluri was also awarded a win after his opponent could not complete a third set due to injury.
With a split result at Lafayette University on Feb. 20, a 5-4 win at Vassar College for the men on Feb. 26, and two dominant wins over Oneonta, the men’s and women’s teams sit at 4-0 and 3-1 respectively.
Both will spend a week away from match play before returning to the Hopewell Tennis Center on March 5 to take on Franklin and Marshall.
