The men’s and women’s tennis teams competed in a dual match at the New Jersey Institute of Technology this past Saturday. The Highlanders swept both teams in their first match since October.
NJIT was a top-10 team in the Northeast Region last year, providing a challenge for the Leopards and head coach Ralph Van Ormer.
“I think his main goal was to just get in as much match play as we possibly could and work on the little things that we had trouble with last season or even in the fall,” sophomore Hanna Ganchi said.
On the women’s side, the competitors were Ganchi, sophomores Ally Bauer, juniors Alyssa Perdomo, Carmen Merkel and Alexandra Waldman and senior Olivia Boeckman.
The Maroon and White went 0-6 in single matches, with the closest bout coming from Bauer, who lost her first set 7-5 but then battled back to win the second 6-2. She ultimately fell 10-7 in the match tiebreaker.
Ganchi said that the team learned from their mistakes mid-match and came back with better play.
“I saw so many improvements from last season that I’ve never seen,” she said. “I saw great mental games.”
The men’s side produced similar results. They were represented by freshmen Aidan Mahaffey, Tyler Mahaffey and Owen Studdiford, sophomore Derrin Lerner, juniors Sam Gelber, Jake Magnusson and Nick McKenzie and senior Arman Ganchi.
After going 0-6 in the singles, the Leopards attempted to bounce back in the doubles. The third doubles team of Lerner and Gelber fought until the final point but ultimately lost 6-4.
The first doubles team consisting of Ganchi and McKenzie forced the Highlanders to a tiebreaker. The Highlanders led 4-0 in the tiebreaker, but the match was called because of NJIT winning the other two doubles matches.
“I think my main focus was on doubles with Arman,” McKenzie said. “We only lost one or two games in the fall, and our goal was to go undefeated this season and try and get ranked, and I think we did a good job on the weekend.”
McKenzie praised the culture of the team going forward in the season.
“Our goal would be try and beat everyone that we beat last year, and then more,” McKenzie said. “We’re working hard, we’re keeping each other accountable and we’re in a place now where we don’t accept negativity on the team.”
The Maroon and White will head to Courtside Racquet Club in Lebanon, New Jersey, on Saturday where they will face Coppin State University.