2008 Woodie Awards
Trinity Tennis makes a racket
Tigers fall to DII St. Edwards, looks forward to home contest against DII St. Mary's University
Jessica Betancourt
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: Sports
Both the men's and women's tennis teams look to recover from 5-4 losses against Division II St. Edward's University last weekend.
Each match won by a Trinity player or team was decisive, whereas four matches won by St. Edward's came down to the wire. The Nos. 2 and 3 doubles contests each went into a tiebreaker with the Tigers losing 9-8 (8-6) and 9-8 (9-7), respectively.
"I felt like we really stole a couple of matches," said St. Edward's Head Coach Russell Sterns.
Trinity has a chance to redeem itself this weekend with a win against DII city rival St. Mary's University. The Tigers host the dual match today at 3:00 p.m. at Delavan Tennis Stadium.
Against St. Edward's, the men's team also lost two out of three doubles matches, including a 9-8 (7-5) heartbreaker in the No. 3 slot. With a 7-6 lead, Cory Kowal and Bobby Cocanaugher, first years, couldn't hold serve and then later in the match the Tigers' server double-faulted on match point to give the point to St. Edward's.
Trinity fell into a 4-2 hole after the Nos. 3, 5 and 6 singles points went to St. Edward's and the last three singles players remained on the court.
"I felt confident we were going to win at Nos. 5 and 6 [singles spots] that day but I didn't see where we were going to get that fifth point," Sterns said.
Oliver Gaines and James Furr, seniors, were left along with Varun Munjal, sophomore. The fate of the match would hinge on each player winning his contest.
"It's always in the back of your mind but you don't want to put additional pressure on yourself," Gaines said.
Gaines and Furr came through, leaving the fate of the match on the shoulders of Munjal. After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, he fell 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 to a feisty opponent.
"We had them on the ropes," Gaines said. "There were three or four matches that we barely lost. If we win one of these matches we could have won. We win two of those matches and we win it convincingly."
Each match won by a Trinity player or team was decisive, whereas four matches won by St. Edward's came down to the wire. The Nos. 2 and 3 doubles contests each went into a tiebreaker with the Tigers losing 9-8 (8-6) and 9-8 (9-7), respectively.
"I felt like we really stole a couple of matches," said St. Edward's Head Coach Russell Sterns.
Trinity has a chance to redeem itself this weekend with a win against DII city rival St. Mary's University. The Tigers host the dual match today at 3:00 p.m. at Delavan Tennis Stadium.
Against St. Edward's, the men's team also lost two out of three doubles matches, including a 9-8 (7-5) heartbreaker in the No. 3 slot. With a 7-6 lead, Cory Kowal and Bobby Cocanaugher, first years, couldn't hold serve and then later in the match the Tigers' server double-faulted on match point to give the point to St. Edward's.
Trinity fell into a 4-2 hole after the Nos. 3, 5 and 6 singles points went to St. Edward's and the last three singles players remained on the court.
"I felt confident we were going to win at Nos. 5 and 6 [singles spots] that day but I didn't see where we were going to get that fifth point," Sterns said.
Oliver Gaines and James Furr, seniors, were left along with Varun Munjal, sophomore. The fate of the match would hinge on each player winning his contest.
"It's always in the back of your mind but you don't want to put additional pressure on yourself," Gaines said.
Gaines and Furr came through, leaving the fate of the match on the shoulders of Munjal. After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, he fell 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 to a feisty opponent.
"We had them on the ropes," Gaines said. "There were three or four matches that we barely lost. If we win one of these matches we could have won. We win two of those matches and we win it convincingly."
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