Last weekend the men’s tennis team fought off tough competition from MIT (5-4) and Connecticut College (7-2) to extend their win streak to five, while improving their NESCAC record to a perfect 2-0.
Although the weekend ended in victory, it did not have an auspicious beginning, as the Polar Bears lost all their doubles matches against MIT. With a 3-0 deficit heading into singles play, the team needed to win at least five of the six singles in order to snatch victory. To add further drama, all the singles matches were moved indoors after sunset.
“I remember saying to the team, ‘We will be out here as long as it takes,’” said Sam King ’14, “We knew we wanted it more than these guys, we were out there for the long haul.”
While Chris Lord ’14 and Kyle Wolstencroft ’15 made quick work of their opponents—winning straight sets at the No. 3 and 4 positions, respectively—the pressure mounted after Luke Trinka ’16 lost in straight sets to the Engineers’ Edwin Zhang. The match came down to King, Chase Savage ’16 and Hugh Mo ’17.
King rallied back from a 6-0 loss in the first set with a 6-0 win in the second. He then overcame a determined opponent with a 6-2 win in the third set.
Mo split sets with his opponent, losing the first set 6-3 and rallying back to win the second 6-3. Keeping the momentum going, he took a convincing lead in the third set, finishing off his opponent 6-2.
“I knew the key to my success was to make it a physical battle,” Savage said of his match.
Although he won the first set in a 6-4 battle, the Engineers’ Jeffrey Bu won the second set. Savage fought off the second set loss, pulling out a resounding 6-0 win in the third set and clinching the match for the Bears with a 5-4 victory over the Engineers.
“It was more of a mental victory,” Head Coach Conor Smith. “It really was just straight belief.”
With the win against MIT still fresh in their minds, the Polar Bears faced Connecticut College on Sunday morning.
“We wanted to make sure we brought some energy,” said Savage. “On paper [Connecticut College] may not be as good, but we knew that it would be tougher than it needed to be if we sleep walked through the match.”
The Polar Bears took the lead in their doubles, going up 2-1 with wins from King and Wolstencroft at No. 1 (8-4) and Peter Davis ’14 and Eric Chien ’14 at No. 3 (8-1).
The early lead at doubles gave the Polar Bears some much needed breathing room going into the singles matches. Trinka took the first match, cruising past the Camels’ Josh Suneby in straight sets (6-2, 6-0). They then quickly mowed down their remaining opponents with Lord, Wolstencroft, Savage and Mo tallying victories at positions 3, 4, 5 and 6, to give the Bears a 7-2 victory over the Camels.
The team returns to action this weekend with a pair of tough league matches, playing at Tufts tomorrow at 10 a.m. and at home against Amherst on Sunday at 2 p.m.