The Cardinals men’s tennis team looks to be at the top of its game in just the second match of the fall season. Wesleyan took to the Vine Street courts last Sunday and thoroughly dismantled the Union Dutchmen with a resounding 9-0 victory. The Cards delivered an all-around superior performance, showing signs that a still young team might only be beginning to scratch the surface of its potential.

“A shutout is never bad. We showed a lot of advancement from last year to this year,” said captain Garrett Blank ’11. “A lot of the sophomores, freshmen from last year, were coming up to me after the match saying, ‘Union got worse.’ But I think in the grand scheme of things we got better.”

Top singles seeds Jeff Legunn ’13 and Ravy Uong ’13 bounced back from personal losses last match against Nichols with dominant wins, both by a score of 6-1, 6-3. The top-seeded doubles team of Legunn/Uong also shook off some of the rust from a tight win in the season opener with a convincing 8-1 drubbing.
“Our doubles match went a lot easier,” Uong commented. “So I think people are coming together in that respect.”

Blank cited doubles as an area in need of improvement following the Nichols match, and the poise and grit the Cardinals showed Sunday to complement their natural talent was a good sign going forward.

“Our doubles were outstanding,” remarked Blank. “Much better than they were before. Our third doubles team [Michael Glen ’13 and Stefan Golangco ’11] won a grinder. Really close match, fended off two match points and ended up winning it.”

The rest of the singles team excelled as well. Although three-seed Alex Hirsch ’13 did find himself in a difficult match, eventually pulling out a 6-4, 7-5 victory, his struggles were not shared by the rest of his singles teammates. Don Kleckner ’13 and Glen both earned flawless 6-0, 6-0 wins, while Blank cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win.

With Wesleyan traveling to Williams this weekend to compete in the ITA Tournament, Blank is confident that experience gained last season is beginning to pay dividends for the Cardinals.
“Going through a NESCAC season last spring helped us to see how good we really are,” Blank said. “It’s helping us move more in a direction we want to go in.”