Men’s tennis wins second of two matches
Starting the season with an equal amount of wins and losses, the Saint Joseph’s University men’s tennis team sought to reach a winning record against Saint Louis University on Feb. 24. The Hawks fell, 5-2, losing their second conference match of the season.
Doubles partners senior Valentijn van Erven and senior Tristan Boustany won their flight 7-5. Sophomore Tim Stierle and junior Peter Dewitt lost their doubles flight 6-3 alongside senior Kyle Chalmers and sophomore Dan Tan who lost in their doubles flight 6-3.
“St. Louis has got some talent and we did not play well in doubles,” said Head Coach Ian Crookenden. “The one and two positions, which are more of our solid positions, we did not play well and that shakes the player’s confidence a little bit when that happens. We competed hard, we just have to bounce back and try to improve on it that’s all.”
In the singles matches, the Hawks tried fighting for the win with Stierle, Tan, and Dewitt all going into three-set matches. Tan won his singles match after losing the second set 7-5, but came back and won the third set 6-0. Stierle lost his match after winning the first set 6-4, but lost the second 6-4 and the third set 6-2. Dewitt also fought hard in his match losing the first set 4-6, but winning the second 6-4; however, in the last set he fell 6-2.
“They are competitive, but at the end of a long week against a tough opponent we just were a little fragile and that is what they have to learn to be able to handle,” Crookenden said. “They have to learn to handle the mistakes, learn to handle if things don’t go their way, handle it, shrug it off, and focus.”
Boustany won his singles flight 6-2, 6-0 in what Crookenden called a “perfect matchup”. Chalmers lost his singles match 6-3, 6-1. Sophomore Andre Fick lost his singles flight losing his first set 6-4 and had a close match in the second set with a score of 7-5.
“The match against St. Louis, the result wasn’t good,” Chalmers said. “We didn’t compete as well as we should’ve. Especially for a conference match, it wasn’t a good one to lose.”
The Hawks came back on Feb. 25 with a 6-1 win against the University of Delaware. They started off strong with every doubles team winning their matches.. Dewitt and Stierle won 6-2, Chalmers and Tan, and Boustany and Van Erven won 6-3.
“We had a stronger mental state, which is what you need for the game we play,” Crookenden said.
Both Chalmers and freshman Beekman Schaeffer won their singles flights in a three-set victory− Chalmers with a score of 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 and Schaeffer with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Boustany fell to Delaware in his singles match with a 1-6, 4-6 loss and the only loss of the night. Fick won his singles flight in a close 7-5, 7-5 match as did Dewitt who won 6-4, 6-4. Van Erven played singles and won his singles flight 7-5, 6-1.
Both Chalmers and Tan agree that Van Erven was the best player of the weekend, ending the weekend undefeated in two doubles matches and one singles match.
“He’s [Van Erven] playing really well for us right now and has done his job well in the role he has on the team,” Chalmers said. “I’m especially happy for him too since he is senior and this is his first season getting regular playing time.”
Tan believes that the team did well and bounced back from a loss with strength. Winning doubles gives the momentum of a good match and that is what they did.
“I think overall we are still doing well,” Tan said. “We have a positive record overall now even though we are down 0-2 in terms of conference matches. We have a lot in the future and I think that as long as we stay focused and with the A-10’s in mind we will still be able to contest strongly against some of the top teams.”
The Hawks do not play again until March 11 where they will begin to play in their outdoor season with their first match against Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. They will play again on March 12 against Davidson College in North Carolina.
