With a 6-1 loss to M.I.T., the men’s tennis team completed a rather unsuccessful fall season with a 1-2 record. The team, however, knows these matches are just preparation for the tough spring season ahead.
“We are a really solid team,” said Max Kates ’06. “These two loses in the fall I like to think of as great practice for big Little Three matches in the spring.”
The Cards got off to a rough start with M.I.T. on Thursday, managing only one victory, from Jack Rooney ’07 in the singles competition. Rooney, playing in the fifth seed, won his first set with a single break, 7-5. His M.I.T. opponent came back with a strong second set, downing Rooney 6-3. In the final frame, Rooney took the match over, winning 6-2 in strong fashion.
“I knew going into the match, I would have to play really smart,” Rooney said. “The guy I was playing had a huge forehand and serve, so I knew if I kept it to his backhand, I could start being more aggressive in the points. I also knew I had to take full advantage of my serve – I tried to kick it up to his backhand as much as possible and then capitalize on his weak return. I was really pleased with the way I was able to pull through and win a lot of the crucial points in the match. I was hitting the ball well, but I think what made the biggest difference was the way I was able to capitalize on most of my opportunities.”
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Rooney’s win stood alone in the singles bracket. Number one player Kates lost a tough game to his highly ranked opponent, Evan Trindell, in a pair of 6-1 sets.
“Evan played very well, and was honestly a better player than me on that day,” Kates said. “I should have changed up the pace more and given him different looks, but that was really tough.”
Tallen Todorovich ’07 lost his match in two hard-fought sets, 6-4, 7-5, in the second spot. Where Rooney had been able to capitalize on his chances, Todorovich’s story was just the opposite. He kept himself in the game, but in the end, he said that he served well, but failed to execute on important points.
Evan Rhodes ’05, Matt Cron ’05 and Pauri Paudian ’08 all suffered similar fates in their singles matches, all losing in two sets to gritty M.I.T. rivals.
The duo of Kates and Rhodes, playing in the second spot in doubles managed to sneak out a win, but with M.I.T. taking the singles 5-1, it had no effect on the final score. Nonetheless, the pair earned their W the hard way, with an 8-6 victory.
“[The] match was really the first time Evan and I both felt comfortable and healthy on the court,” Kates said. “When we are playing doubles, Evan’s serve complements my return game nicely, making every single doubles game a legitimate break/hold.”
The other doubles pairs, Todorovich and Adam Stone ’05 and Rooney and Paudian, both came up short, losing 8-1 and 8-5 respectively.
“The team is slowly but surely moving along in a positive direction,” Todorovich said. “We are on the brink of coming together and pulling of some big wins against nationally ranked opponents.”
Rooney echoed his teammate’s sentiments about the team’s hopes for the spring.
“We will have a very strong line-up in the spring, and I’m confident we’ll be able to compete with almost all the NESCAC teams,” he said. “With most of the players on the team, we just need to build a more dynamic game so that if we’re down in a set, we can switch things up and change momentum. If we can start off quickly, and capitalize on big points, we’ll do very well this year.”
The team’s final match of the year, at Vassar on Monday afternoon, was cancelled.
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