By Tyler Morello
Staff Writer
The College’s tennis teams each continue to have a strong season. The men’s team had matches against New York University, Rutgers-Camden, and No. 46 ranked Haverford College dating back to March 23. The women’s team played New Paltz as well as New York University and Rutgers-Camden.
The men’s team first hosted New York University on March 23 and won their tightest match of the year, 5-4. They dropped in doubles 2-1, with sophomores Alberto Thomas and Brett Schuester securing the one win.
The Lions were able to make the comeback thanks to some stellar singles play. Freshman Aayush Kishore was the first to be victorious with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Sixth-year Matthew Michibata won in three sets after storming back from losing the first set and going down 2-0 in the second. This was Michibata’s 70th career singles victory.
The Lions had a quick turnaround and played Rutgers-Camden the very next day in Ewing. The College won in commanding fashion 9-0 and only lost 2 games all day.
For doubles, Michibata and sophomore Harrison Maitland-Carter dominated their match 8-1. The duos of Schuster and Thomas, and junior Dorian Makarski and Kishore won 8-0 each. Michibata, Maitland-Carter, Schuster, Thomas and Kishore each won their singles matches, with fifth-year Adrian Tsui adding to the Lions win total.
On March 30, the men’s team traveled to Haverford, Pennsylvania to face No. 46 Haverford College. While the College did prevail 7-2, it was not nearly as clean as they would have liked.
They got out to an early lead after winning all of their doubles matches. Michibata and Mainland-Carter won 8-6, Makarski and Kishore won 8-3 and Schuster and Thomas also won 8-3.
The first two singles matches to finish were won by Haverford, as they cut the deficit 3-2. The final four matches all ended up going to three sets. The Lions were able to pull through in all four of the matches.
The College’s women’s team suffered their first loss of the year during their weekend set of matches. They first faced New Paltz and won comfortably 9-0.
Freshman Zoey Albert and senior Chase Eisenberg coasted to an 8-1 win, followed quickly by an 8-2 win from freshmen Prisha Priyadarshini and Gabriella Robinson. Junior Aira Abalos and freshman Marcella Warner were able to pull out an 8-6 nail-biter to finish the doubles. Eisenberg’s singles victory in two sets marked her 100th career victory.
The women then picked up their first loss of the season to No. 24 New York University, losing 6-3. They were able to get off to a solid start by winning two of the three doubles matches. Abalos and Warner succeeded in an 8-5 win, followed by Priyadarshini and Robinson teaming up to win 8-4.
The Lions were not able to keep up with the Violets in the singles game, though. Warner was the only player to come out with a singles win with scores 6-4, 4-6 and 10-8.
The Lions wrapped up their weekend with a victory over Rutgers-Camden 9-0, only losing five games in the process.
The College’s men’s team is currently ranked No. 17 in the nation, the highest it’s been in 15 years, while the women’s team is currently ranked No. 35.
