After both teams entered spring break on winning streaks, the men’s and women’s tennis teams looked to continue their strong play into the conference schedule.
The Leopards opened up Patriot League play this past weekend at Army. Both teams faced the host, Army, as well as Loyola and Holy Cross, with two matches on Saturday and one match on Sunday.
On Saturday, the women fell to both Army and Loyola. Against Loyola, freshman Grace Conrad tabbed the lone win for the Leopards, but they ultimately lost to the Greyhounds 6-1. Lafayette also lost to Army 5-0.
Against Holy Cross on Sunday, Conrad and seniors Tori Almeida, Gabby Montes and Megan Reiling won in singles, defeating the Crusaders by a 4-0 score. The Leopards also won all three doubles matches, with wins by Conrad and freshman Meredith Block, senior Lauren Tracy and Almeida, senior Rocine Moschella and Montes, and freshman Katie Hill and Reiling.
The women did not lose a set in Sunday’s competition against Holy Cross.
“It was definitely good to get some action under our belt because we did have a week off,” Montes said. “This weekend coming up is really important. We’re playing Colgate on Sunday…Colgate is a really big match for us. They’re one of the teams we’re looking to beat this season. So it was nice to get some matches played.”
The men’s team faced Holy Cross and Loyola on Saturday. The Leopard men beat Holy Cross 5-0 but then fell to Loyola 7-0.
Against Holy Cross, freshman Blake Oslan, junior Mason Keel, sophomore Andrew Reed and freshman Drew Rooks won singles matches, while Oslan and Reed were victorious at the top spot in doubles. Rooks and junior Chris Kim also won their doubles match against the Crusaders.
The men struggled against Army on Sunday, falling by a score of 5-0. The top flight saw the closest match, with Oslan and Reed forcing a tie breaker, but eventually falling by an 8-6 score. The men also fell in all three of their doubles contests.
The women return to their home court on Friday, playing host to East Stroudsburg University. The men and women will travel to Hamilton, N.Y. to take on Colgate on Sunday.
“Sunday is a big day for us,” Montes said. “We haven’t beaten Colgate in the past four years that we’ve been here. So we really want to beat them. It’s definitely something we’ve been looking forward to and working towards this year.”