A group of friends traveled down to Florida for the third time, though the sunny weather signified more than just another spring break trek.
With matches played and training ranging from hard court drills to cross training to beach football and ultimate frisbee, the Blue Jays' trip to St. Augustine, Fla. marked the opening of the spring tennis season.
"The trip to Florida is seen as a time to try and get ready for the season ahead and have some nice weather to be able to get in some practice time," junior Matt Naftilan said. "We don't have the facilities or weather to consistently practice before spring break."
After an opening 6-3 loss to Flagler, the men's team rebounded with wins over the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) (7-2) and Division II Florida Tech (6-3). The women's team followed a 6-3 win over Flagler with a 6-3 loss to NJIT.
"The opening loss in the match to Flagler did not lower our expectations for the season at all," freshman David Maldow said. "They were a strong Division II team who had been playing together prior to this match."
Scheduling issues may have been an influence for the women's loss.
"The match against NJIT was at 9 a.m. and was at a site two hours away. We left the hotel at 6 a.m. after coming back from the Flagler match at 10 p.m. the night before," junior Tanya Gulnick said. "I dont think we all played our best and I think we could have done better."
Back from Florida, the men's team continued with a 7-2 victory over Christopher Newport on Sunday. With confidence building, the Blue Jays began Centennial Conference play with a 9-0 crushing of Gettysburg.
Opening the match, the doubles teams swept with Naftilan/freshman Peter Vale (8-4), Maldow/junior Rafael Roberti (8-4) and freshman Vincent Shoeck/freshman Daniel Myers (8-3).
At first singles, Maldow, No. 13 nationally and No. 4 in the region, breezed past the Bullets' Derin Wilson 6-3, 6-0. Sophomore Lawrence Wei posted similar numbers with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Mike Leary. Myers outlasted Dale Beshore 6-4, 7-7 (9-7) at third. At fourth singles, Rafael Roberti beat Matt Salter 8-4; Vale posted an 8-3 win over Thane Schweyer for fifth singles. And sophomore Tripp Weber wrapped with a win over Patrick Dempsey at sixth singles (8-5), completing the sweep.
The women's team returned with an 8-1 win over Muhlenberg Saturday, marking the opening of Centennial Conference play.
With a 3-0 lead from a doubles sweep, the singles went well with the sole loss coming at third singles with Muhlenberg's Carly Rotfeld beating Amanda Schubert 8-5.
With seven new freshmen each, both teams are significantly younger than past years. The lack of experience, though, doesn't seem to have been to a detriment, with both teams having the highest rankings in Hopkins history. The men's team is currently No. 21 nationally and No. 5 regionally and the women's team is No. 26 nationally and No. 7 regionally.
"We have four new starting singles players this year, three of which are freshman, so getting college matches under their belt is important," said Roberti, captain of the men's team. "What this team lacks in experience it makes up in heart, and after a couple of matches experience will no longer be any sort of issue."
With the new talent on the team, the Blue Jays have set high goals for the remaining tennis season with sights set for not only a first place finish in the Centennial Conference, but also a berth in the NCAA tournament.
"The last two years, it was to just try and make the NCAA tourney and do well in the conference. This year, we have a great team capable of going further," Roberti said.
Currently standing at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in conference (men's) and 7-2 overall and 1-0 in conference (women's), the Blue Jays return to action hosting Carnegie-Mellon's No. 14 men's and No. 11 women's teams on Saturday, Mar. 24.
The men's team upset the Tartans on their home courts last year with a 4-3 win, but the women's team was overwhelmed 8-1 in their match in Pittsburgh.
"I think that our team is physically and mentally stronger than that of CMU," freshman Anita Bhamidipati said. "We can surely give them a tough match."
