After avenging last season’s loss over Conn College, the men’s tennis team looked to improve its conference seeding with a pair of games against its Maine rivals, the final two matches before the NESCAC Championships.The squad split the games, beating Colby and losing to Bates, but this was enough to ensure a trip to the NESCACS
“We knew going into the weekend that a win over Colby likely would secure a place in the NESCAC Championships,” acknowledged captain Michael Glen ’13. “The only question was how we would do against Bates on Sunday, and who we would be playing in the postseason.”
Wes took care of business when Colby came to town on Saturday, April 27, sweeping the visitors 9-0. At the end of play on Sunday, April 28, the Cardinals found themselves on the losing side of a close 6-3 battle versus Bates. The Bobcats entered the weekend ranked 21st in Division III and offered a legitimate test heading into the postseason. Coincidentally, Wesleyan now finds itself looking at a rematch against Bates in the first round of the NESCAC Championships.
“It was unfortunate that we couldn’t leave Maine with another victory today,” admitted Alex Rachlin ’15. “I think the match provided some extra motivation for our rematch against Bates next week in the NESCAC Championships. That’s when it really counts, and playing Bates today made us realize that we can take on these top national teams, and hopefully we can pull through next week.”
The postseason competition marks the first time Wesleyan has been given an invitation to compete in the NESCAC Championships—a privilege only given to the conference’s top six squads. Against Trinity, Hamilton, Connecticut College, Tufts, and Colby, the Cardinals grabbed five conference victories this spring, the first time they have reached that mark in over a decade.
On Saturday against Colby, the Cardinals found a way to start in front and remain there for the remainder of the day. All singles players, seeds one through six, took care of their opponents in straight sets. Even more, the doubles pairings coasted through their competition, taking all three matches on the day. Sam Rudovsky ’16, Zach Brint ’16, and captain Jeff Legunn ’13 all nabbed two victories.
On Sunday after the long trip up to Bates, however, the Cardinals could not quite muster enough determination to pull out a victory. Wesleyan’s usual strength—its doubles play—left the Cards winless against Bates. The previously undefeated #2 doubles pairing of Legunn and Michael King ’16 finally met its match and fell decisively to its opponents 8-3. The loss marked the pairing’s first on the season and drops its impressive record to 10-1 for the spring.
There were bright spots for the Cardinals in their match against Bates. For starters, Wesleyan managed to go 3-3 in singles action, highlighted by Legunn’s 7-5, 6-2 straight-set victory. The other two wins came from Rudovsky at the #3 seed and Ben Hudson ’15 at #6. Both competitors took their matches in super tiebreakers after dropping their first sets.
The match against Bates marks the end of a successful spring campaign. The Cardinals finished 7-9 on the year, but more importantly went 6-5 in the spring. Five of those six victories came against conference opponents, ensuring the team’s passage to postseason play. The season marks the most successful Wesleyan season in years, and will probably go down as the year the men’s tennis program was revamped. With a top-ranked recruiting class coming in and a team led by underclassmen performers, Wesleyan’s tennis future looks promising.
However, for some, this is the last opportunity to go out on successful terms.
“I know for me this is it,” Glen said. “We have what it takes to win in the postseason and I am confident we can execute well enough to win.”