Tennis teams still looking for first wins this season
Freshman Bernardo Sanson prepares a backhand shot against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville at the Five Seasons Sports Club, Friday, Jan. 24. The University of Dayton menÕs and womenÕs tennis teams are both looking for their first match wins this season. Chris Santucci/Staff Photographer
By: Nathan Vicar – Staff Writer
The University of Dayton’s men’s (0-2) and women’s (0-3) tennis teams were in action at their home court at the Five Seasons Sports Club this weekend.
The men’s team lost 4-3 to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (2-0) on Friday, Jan. 24
The women’s team also lost Friday to SIUE 5-0. Back in action Sunday, Jan. 26, the team dropped a 7-0 decision to the University of Detroit-Mercy.
The men’s loss came on the heels of a 7-0 loss to the University of Kentucky, a top 10 team in the country.
“[We] left there realizing that we can compete with anybody when we stay focused,” head coach Ryan Meyer said.
“Overall, I think it was a great experience and I look forward to seeing how it pays off in the future.”
SIUE had to come from behind after dropping the doubles point.
Senior Jacob Tanulanond and junior Nicolas Vincent won their doubles match at No. 3 against UD junior Colin Bernier and freshmen Andy Druffel with a 6-5 (7-3) win.
Dayton countered with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. UD senior Andrew Hanley and junior Josh Malyon stopped SIUE sophomore Patrick Gaffigan and freshmen Matthew Hutchinson 6-4. UD junior Aidan Koross and freshman Bernardo Sanson then edged SIUE junior Stephen Washuta and sophomore Nico Kuehn 6-5 (7-3) for the point.
In singles play, Vincent and Kuehn both won third set tiebreakers to win their respective matches in No. 1 and 4 positions to help take the meet.
Vincent dropped the second set, went to a tiebreaker in the third against Koross, and won the tiebreaker 7-1.
Kuehn won two tiebreakers after dropping the first set, winning 4-6, 6-5 (7-4), 6-5 (7-4) over Malyon. Kuehn extended his match by fighting off three match points.
“Our men prepared well,” Meyer said. “SIUE has a solid program and we knew it was going to be a dogfight. It turned out we came up a little short, but our guys gave it their all. If we continue to work as hard as we have been, we will
begin to start beating these programs.”
The women are also trying to find their first win of the season and overcome other obstacles.
“We are still playing short handed due to some injuries,” Meyer said. “Despite some of the girls playing out of position, they fought and gave it their all. Unfortunately, our schedule has some of our best competition early in the year.”
The women were blanked in both singles and doubles matches this weekend against SIUE and UDM.
“Our girls are fighters and never gave up even when the scores weren’t so good,” Meyer said. “My girls work hard and we will find a way to start winning some of these matches.”
Spirits are still high for the women’s team members after the rough start, according to senior Erin Filbrandt.
“The biggest thing I take pride in about our team is how cohesive we are,” she said. “We all get together on and off the court better than any team we’ve played. The freshmen contribute a lot to the team and I think they all fit right in.”
Both teams return to action this weekend. The men host Butler University Friday, Jan. 31, at 3 p.m. The women play Youngstown State University Sunday, Feb. 2, at 3 p.m.