California Lutheran University menโs tennis fell 5-2 to Whitman College at the Poulson Tennis Center on Wednesday, March 19.
Head Coach Mike Gennette said Whitman College is a tough team with a high ranking. Gennette said going into the game, the team hoped to perform well and see if they could pull off an upset.
The Kingsmen won one out of three doubles matches, and two out of six singles matches. Senior duo Ethan Sherwood/Loup Sudre won 6-4, Sophomore Raphael Simon/Freshman Maciej Gawronski were defeated 7-5, and Sophomore Frederick Otto/Senior Andy Ai lost 7-5. Sherwood lost his singles match 6-2, 6-4, Simon won his match 6-4, 7(7) โ 6(5), Sudre also won his match 6-3, 6(4)-7(7), 10-5, Ai lost 7-5, 6-2, Otto lost 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 after going into three sets, and Gawronski lost 7-5, 6-0.
โI thought all courts competed really well, the best they could today, and I thought people were all there for each other, so I feel like, you know, it was more of an overall, really proud of them looking like a team today,โ Gennette said.
According to Gennette, Ottoโs match was tight and it had to go into a third set. Gennette said this was Gawronskiโs first time playing at Cal Lutheran.
โHe played number two doubles and number six singles. He faded out in number six singles losing a second set at six, but he competed really well in the first set, really close to winning it, maybe just inexperience and fatigue, and he faded,โ Gennette said.
Gennette said that the two winning singles, Sudre and Simon, were great matches.
โI thought they both looked fantastic and competed really, really well,โ Gennette said.
Simon said that he was trying to play aggressively because he was competing against a skilled player. Simon said his strategy was to go to the net as much as possible, which is something that he admitted he does not like doing but felt like it was necessary for this match.
โThe other guy was good today, so I was hoping that my level today was also going to be good to be able to compete and try to, like, give problems to this guy as much as I could. I was not perfect, but it was good enough, so it was a good fighting spirit, good mindset,โ Simon said. โI was good enough to make the match really tight.โ
Sudre said that his service was something he was particularly proud about, during both singles and doubles. According to Sudre, he did not make any double faults in the match.
โEven if my first serve was not really good, my second serve was really solid, which helped me to, like, not give any points away,โ Sudre said. โIโm happy about today.โ
Gennette said he noticed the players had good energy after spring break. According to Gennette, the Kingsmen needed some time off to relax and blow off some steam. Gennette also said that there was some spring break rust, but the overall energy of the players was top-notch regardless.
โI think the girlsโ yesterday maybe was, you know, one day too early after spring break. We were a little bit rusty,โ Gennette said. โThese guys have had one more day to kind of get themselves together and everybodyโs looking high energy and excited. So I think what weโre looking for today is just really good energy and good teamwork.โ
Simon said that his legs were feeling bad by the end of the match. According to Simon, going to the gym repeatedly is the solution to his problem.
โWe had the spring break, so I was โ I didnโt really expect anything because we didnโt practice much last week, so I was really hoping we could get some good sensation. And I won my match. Iโm pretty happy even though if as a team we lost, I played great singles so Iโm pretty happy,โ Sudre said.
According to Sudre, his legs โgave outโ because of the lack of practice, the consequences of spring break and rain. Sudre said that he thinks he needs to get more in shape physically. Sudre said that after the game, he was going to the trainer to work out as much as he could to be ready for his next match. The Kingsmen lost 5-2 against Colorado College the next day.
โWe play Colorado College tomorrow. Itโs a doubleheader, if you will, because the women play and then the men play well, then men play first and the women play after that tomorrow. And thatโs gonna be another really close battle again,โ Gennette said.
Gennette said that Colorado College and Cal Lutheran have similar ranking levels. Gennette said he thinks that if the team plays well, then they can win, but that it will depend on how they feel physically tomorrow. Regardless, Gennette said he thinks it is going to be a good match.
Following the match, Simon said he was solely focused on the next dayโs match.
Gennette said that the team wants to see how the season evolves as it is still early to tell. Gennette said despite having a tough schedule, he thinks the team is good and experienced, and will continue to get better.
โWe had a lot of success on the trip to Texas but we have a lot of top national teams that are just coming up now, that are gonna be tough, so weโre gonna see how we perform against them,โ Gennette said.
Gennette said that there is room for improvement looking forward to the rest of the season.
โWeโre gonna get more fit with running and I think that, overall, the camaraderie on the team is gonna continue to grow. I think we got over a hump today where we see that we can win against really strong teams and with a little bit more hard work, we can start to turn those into our favor,โ Gennette said.
The Kingsmen (3-6 overall; 0-1 in conference) are scheduled to host Linfield University (2-7 overall; 2-6 in conference) on Wednesday, March 26 at 5 p.m. at the Poulson Tennis Center.
