Perhaps what comes around goes around. The men’s tennis team trounced Hamilton last week, taking home a 6-1 victory. On Tuesday the team’s fortunes were reversed as the Trinity Bantams blanked Wes 7-0.
“I felt that we all could have won our matches if we played like we have been playing in practice,” said Tallen Todorovich ’07. “I am not as disappointed as I would normally be with this loss because Trinity was our first real test.”
Trinity set the tone early, as their ace, highly ranked Brian Marsden, knocked off Max Kates ’06 in two sets (1-6, 5-7).
“I made sure to stay in the match and almost wore him down,” Kates said afterward. “Really I was OK with how I played. A lot of my shots were not falling […] but Brian is a great player and a great server, and I was unable to break him at all.”
Kates nearly reversed his fortunes, playing a very competitive second set, but in the end it was not to be.
“I had a set point late in the 2nd, but I think he hit an ace on that one big opportunity I had,” he said. “When you are playing a guy who is number four in the nation, you have to create your own opportunities-they don’t just come knocking at your door.”
Playing in the second spot, Todorovich fought as hard as Kates had before him, lasting three sets with his Bantam opponent. Todorovich won the first set 6-4 but dropped the next two to lose the match.
“I thought I played the first set to the best of my capabilities,” Todorovich said. “After a long second set that did not go in my favor, I slowly began to fatigue. In the third set, I was unable to play to the best of my ability.”
The rough day for the Cardinals continued as the rest of the singles players, Evan Rhodes ’05, Matt Cron ’05, Jack Rooney ’07 and Pauri Paudian ’08, all lost in two sets. The six points for Trinity won the match and crushed the Cardinals.
“Everyone put a good fight and there were no matches where we weren’t competitive,” Cron said. “Unfortunately, everyone was a little off their game.”
The doubles were no kinder to Wesleyan, as Trinity won all three. Todorovich and Adam Stone ’05 fell 8-6 in the top spot.
“Stone and I played very well,” Todorovich said. “We just missed a couple of returns and volleys in key situations. Again, this was our first real test of the year, so I feel as if Stone and I will rebound and continue to be a successful team in future matches.”
The teams of Kates/Rhodes and Rooney/Paudian were no more successful in their doubles endeavors, losing 8-1 and 8-4, respectively.
“The positive spin on the match is this: not only was everyone in their matches, but we managed to be so despite not playing very well,” Rhodes said. “I don’t think anyone would say they played particularly well, but we were still competitive.”
“Spirits are still high on the team,” Cron said. “It’s very important to stay high after a disappointing match, but I think we are a group of guys that are capable of keeping in high spirits and forgetting about previous losses.”
The Cardinals played Thursday against M.I.T., but results were not available before press time. The next match is 3:30 p.m. Monday at Vassar.
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