The men’s and women’s tennis teams kicked off their regular seasons last weekend with matches against Marist and Coppin State.
Both teams split the opening two matches, with the women’s team falling to Marist by a score of 4-3 on Saturday and defeating Coppin State in a 7-0 sweep on Sunday. The men’s team followed suit, securing a 7-1 victory over Coppin State after an initial 4-2 loss to Marist.
On the women’s side, sophomore team captain Alyssa Perdomo led the team, securing a comfortable straight-set victory in first singles against Coppin State after narrowly losing her opening match against Marist. Perdomo also partnered with sophomore Carmen Merkel to secure a doubles win against Coppin State.
“I think I got all my nerves out in the first match,” Perdomo said. “Starting the season as first singles was definitely nerve-wracking, but [Sunday] I felt a lot more comfortable.”
Perdomo’s performance was backed up by strong contributions from the entire lineup, with notable performances coming from freshmen Hanna Ganchi and Mia Hernandez. Ganchi went undefeated in singles, including a straight-set win over Coppin State in which her opponent did not win a single set, while Hernandez secured wins in both singles and doubles, including a come-from-behind three-set victory against Coppin State.
“I think this is one of the strongest teams we’ve had, so we’re all excited to keep playing,” Perdomo said. “Everyone killed it, and we played well.”
The men’s team also got a big contribution from first singles, as junior Arman Ganchi won both of his matches in straight-set victories.
“It feels great, and gives me a lot of confidence,” Ganchi said. “Going in, I wasn’t sure how I was going to do, but I was able to play pretty well.”
The team was also able to secure the doubles point against Coppin State after struggling to find its footing against Marist, which Ganchi attributed to first-match nerves.
“[Marist] were already a few matches into their season,” Ganchi said. “We’re definitely still trying to figure out our best pairings for doubles, which plays a factor as well. As time goes on, that will get better.”
Both teams were without their captains as junior Olivia Boeckman has been sidelined with an ankle injury while senior Davis Esslinger has struggled with a shoulder injury.
Freshmen Derrin Lerner and Ryan Burns made their mark in the opening matches as well, with Lerner securing both of his singles matches and Burns earning both a singles and doubles win against Coppin State. Both teams will travel to Philadelphia to face St. Joseph’s tomorrow for a match that Ganchi feels will be a big test.
“We saw a lot of potential in the team this weekend,” Ganchi said. “Seeing how we square up with [St. Joseph’s] will be a big deal, and a win over them would be a huge momentum boost for us.”
