The ultimate test of any athlete’s determination and stamina is the double-header. To compete at the level that excellence demands on two separate occasions back to back can unnerve even the greatest competitors. This weekend, the Wesleyan men’s tennis team was forced to run that gauntlet known to the public as the double-header. With matches against University of Rochester followed unmercifully by NYU, the athletes on the team were going to be pushed to the edge physically and mentally. It was a Saturday afternoon that the members of the team will not soon forget.
“I think that it was difficult to play in two matches mainly because it was the first time we had ever done it,” said co-captain Ari Levin ’04. “It hurt us that we weren’t accustomed to it. By the second match people were tired and there were players who said their feet were getting heavy.”
The match against Rochester started off poorly for the Cardinals. In an attempt to conserve the energy, and possibly the sanity of the players, the three teams decided to eliminate the doubles portion of the first match. This was a crippling blow to the Wesleyan team, who has strived on the doubles part of the competition all year. Unable to establish a lead early, the team was bested in singles by a 5-1 score.
“In a lot of matches this year, we’ve started out by getting the doubles point,” Levin said. “If we had gotten that point it could have given us the momentum to pull out a victory. It could have helped, but the time just wasn’t going to work out.”
The team was left disheartened after the Rochester match.
“We were all disappointed by the loss to Rochester,” said co-captain Dan Yeoman ’04. “They have a strong team with many returning players. But Mike Roguly [’05] really came through for the team by taking his man to town in his match. I mean he brought the hammer down hard.”
The cruel irony of the double-header is that after a loss, there is only a small window of time to try and motivate the team. Fortunately, motivation is something that these Cardinals do not lack.
“We didn’t want to lose two matches in one day,” Levin said. “People played well enough to win in the morning, it just didn’t come together. So we knew that we could win the second match and end the day on a positive note.”
In the second match, Wesleyan faced NYU, an opponent not to be taken lightly. With the doubles competition back in play, the Cardinals jumped out to an early lead, a lead that they would never relent.
“We stayed with the same lineup for the second match and came out firing,” Yeoman said. “The doubles started out strong for us and NYU really had no chance.”
From there, the team amassed an insurmountable 4-1 lead before yielding two more points to get to the final score of 4-3.
Pulling out a victory in the second match showed the character and mettle of the team, characteristics that did not go unnoticed by the captains.
“The team really stepped up when we needed to,” Yeoman said. “It was a great effort by the team. In the second match, Evan Rhodes ’05 played this Lindsay Davenport look-a-like and beat him badly.”
While this win will prove to be an important stepping-stone towards loftier goals, there is still important work that the team can concentrate on.
“We haven’t had a match where everyone on the team plays to their potential,” Levin said. “Against the better teams in the league, we are still searching for more consistency. As a team, we haven’t played that complete match yet, but hopefully we’ll get there.”
Up next for the Cardinals is a mid-week date at Connecticut College than a weekend rumble with Bowdoin. It could be a 2-0 week for the team, something that would help immeasurably before the NESCAC tourney gets underway.
“We need to get serious for Bowdoin because they usually have a strong team,” Yeoman said. “But Connecticut College is pretty weak, so it should be a big party for us on Tuesday.”
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