Despite some individual wins, the men’s and women’s tennis teams were unable to secure team victories over their opponents across a week’s worth of play. The women fell to Villanova University last Thursday, then both the men and women dropped their matches to Le Moyne College and Colgate University.
For the women, the Leopards struggled to pick up steam against Villanova, losing the doubles point and failing to win a singles match before the Wildcats clinched the victory 4-0.
“They’re a great team, and the weather was awful,” sophomore Hanna Ganchi said. “The vibes were off. I think our energy was just so low. I think that’s something that we are continuously working on.”
Against Le Moyne, Ganchi and junior Alyssa Perdomo picked up a win in their doubles match. But the Maroon and White dropped the doubles point overall, with senior Olivia Boeckman and junior Ally Waldman falling 6-2, and freshman Marie Sofia Ramaniello and sophomore Ally Bauer narrowly losing 7-6.
“I think we can all work on our mentalities out there,” Ramaniello said. “If we tighten up a few loose errors, we’re right there with all these teams.”
Ganchi noted that deuce points made a “big difference” against Le Moyne.
“Those are so important and can completely alter the energy of a match,” Ganchi said. “I think we need to work more on pressure points.”
Boeckman and Ganchi each won their singles matches, but the team failed to make up for the lost doubles point and fell to Le Moyne 4-2.
On Sunday against Colgate, Ganchi and Perdomo again won their doubles match, but the Maroon and White dropped the doubles point en route to a 4-0 Raiders victory.
For the men, Saturday saw the Leopards fall in all their matches against Le Moyne, with the lone exception of a doubles victory from juniors Sam Gelber and Jake Magnusson.
Sophomore Derrin Lerner said that the team looked to adopt a next-play mentality after losing the doubles point.
“You kind of have to just think of them isolated and reset, even if doubles went poorly,” Lerner said. “You kind of just have to let it go, even if it doesn’t go great.”
Following the 5-0 shutout, the Leopards took on Patriot League rival Colgate.
“Last year, we actually beat Colgate for the first time in a while,” sophomore Derrin Lerner said. “We knew going in that it was going to be a tight match.”
The Raiders decisively took the doubles point and won three singles matches to clinch the Patriot League victory.
Finishing their season, the men take on the Patriot League championships this weekend, beginning with a rematch against Bucknell University.
“When we played Bucknell last week, I won my first set, but we clinched,” Lerner said. “I’m hoping to get back in there and play the same guy and hopefully have the same success.”
The women finish up their regular season this weekend, taking on Lehigh University on Friday and playing Bucknell on Saturday.
