The seventh ranked Hopkins men’s tennis team was hard at work this weekend with three competitive matches. Despite losing 5-4 to Cal Lutheran, they managed to boost their overall ranking by defeating NC Wesleyan 6-3 and later taking fifth place at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
The Jays had a long way to travel for the first match, all the way to St. Peter, Minn. at Gustavus Adolphus College, where they squared off with 11th ranked Cal Lutheran.
Right from the beginning, Hopkins built up a difficult 3-0 deficit in doubles. The Jays were routed 8-2 in the first match, as sophomores Tanner Brown and Erik Lim could not combine for the win. Looking for the turn around, doubles pair sophomore Ben Hwang and freshman Chris Jou lost their match, but this time only by two. To close out the doubles competition, the third Hopkins pair also fell to Cal Lutheran 8-4.
With the loosing streak continuing into the singles competition, Brown snapped the drought by winning the second singles match for Hopkins, making the score 4-1. Then Hwang clinched the win over Lutheran’s Alex Nichols in the third singles match after the pair traded sets initially. In total, Hopkins played six single matches, and was able to catch up to Cal Lutheran to a lesser extent. In the end, the shortcomings in the doubles competition cost Hopkins the match with the final score of 5-4.
“Although it was not the best first round and quite a disappointment,” sophomore Ben Hwang said, “it was good because it showed us what we needed to work on.”
A turn of events paced Hopkins through the weekend as they defeated 12th ranked N.C. Wesleyan 6-3. Seniors Andy Hersh and Jeff Kamei supplied Hopkins with a great start, earning the win by 8-3. However, duos Jou and Hwang and Brown and Lim were handily defeated by the Battling Bishops in their sets, 8-3 and 8-4 respectively.
Once again facing a doubles deficit, Hwang sparked Hopkins’ singles play after rallying from his initial dropped set to tie up the overall score. The Jays continued to fight hard as Brown followed Hwang’s footsteps, winning a three-set match to put Hopkins on top for the first time, 3-2. Despite Hersh’s loss in the third game, Hopkins mustered the sweep in the last three singles, leaving the match victorious, 6-3.
Advancing through the consolation semifinals, Hopkins was to face the host team, 25th ranked Gustavus Adolphus, to fight for fifth place later that evening.
Senior pair Andy Hersh and Jeff Kamei outlasted their Gusties opponents, taking the set into its 11th game before the opposition retired. However, Hopkins’ double play once again fell short as the Jays accumulated another 2-1 shortage leading into singles competition.
Hwang’s win of 6-2 and 6-1 in his sets respectively tied the match. Hersh then turned the tables with his 6-4, 6-2 win, giving Hopkins the lead. Tensions would grow as both teams swapped sets mid way through singles play. Finally Erik Lim broke the point by point fad and led Hopkins to victory with the 6-0, 6-2 score. The match ended at 5-4 with Hopkins claiming the fifth place title in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
