Men's Tennis upends #5 NC Wesleyan, 6-3

The 13th ranked Hopkins
men's tennis team
took on their most daunting
opponent of the young
Spring season this past
Sunday. Fifth ranked
North Carolina Wesleyan
College traveled to Homewood
campus to challenge
the Blue Jays, only to be
defeated 6-3, becoming the
highest ranked opponent
Hopkins has ever beaten.
NC Wesleyan took advantage
of a timid Hopkins
team, jumping out to an early
3-0 lead by sweeping the
doubles matches. Hopkins
freshman Erik Lim and
junior Jeffrey Kamei took
a loss at second doubles,
while senior Jacob Barnaby
and freshman Noah
Joachim were downed at
first doubles. Freshman
Tanner Brown and senior
Warren Elgort allowed NC
Wesleyan to sweep doubles
with a loss at third.
From there the Blue Jays
began to bounce back, regaining
composure and
stepping up the level of intensity.
Lim started what
would be a bolstering Hopkins
comeback at sixth singles,
as he defeated Clayton
Sonn of NC Wesleyan 6-1,
6-1. Elgort went on to win at
fifth singles 6-2, 6-1, and the
Blue Jays saw some life.
Freshman Jensen Reiter
stepped up and delivered
a win to tie the match at
3-3, beating NC Wesleyan's
Fred Lemongo 7-6, 6-2 at
fourth singles.
At this point the momentum
had begun to
shift; an early advantage
had slipped away from
the fifth ranked Battling
Bishops. Unfamiliar with
playing in a tie, NC Wesleyan
was clearly unprepared
for the situation at
hand. Having dominated
in the previous 3 matches
9-0, and winning all five
matches on the short season,
NC Wesleyan was facing
adversity and could not
handle the pressure.
On the other side of the
spectrum, Hopkins was
prepared for a hard fought
battle. Another freshman
decided to bring his Agame
to the court, Hopkins'
Ben Hwang battled
from behind and eventually
won third singles 2-6,
6-4, 6-1 to put the Blue Jays
on top 4-3. Junior Andy
Hersh went on to clinch the
match for the Blue Jays, 6-1,
3-6, 7-5 at first singles.
The unimaginable
comeback was an impressive
feat for the powerful
Blue Jays, but there are
many more tests in the
coming weeks for Hopkins
to establish itself as a top
tennis team in the country.
The Blue Jays travel
to Claremont, California
for the Stag Hen Invitational
this coming weekend.
Hopkins will take on
fourth ranked Claremont-
Mudd-Scripps and attempt
to improve on their
2-1 record and earn another
quality win.