“We have a lot of young talent and we are hungry,” sophomore men’s tennis player Erik Lim said. This hunger was evident during the teams past eventful weekend of play, as the Jays competed on both Saturday and Sunday against Swarthmore and Carnegie Mellon, respectively. Hopkins finished triumphantly in both contests due to various team and individual performances.
On Saturday, 8th ranked Hopkins traveled to Swarthmore, Pa. where they took on the 23rd ranked Garnet. The Centennial Conference competition began with a Hopkins lead (2-1) after a series of doubles matches, including a win for sophomore pair Tanner Brown and Erik Lim over William Lennon and Malik Mubeen (8-1).
Also clinching an 8-1 win was senior doubles pair Andy Hersh and Jeff Kamei. The pair took on Garnets Christian Carcione and James Wieler. Swarthmore seized a 8-6 win at first, earning one point for the Garnet, beating out Hopkins’ Nicholas Garcia (freshman) and Noah Joachim (sophomore).
Brown also had an impressive showing during singles play, not losing a set against Sacks (6-0 6-0). Additionally triumphant were both Lim (beating Irving Stone at fourth, 6-4, 6-0) and Hersh (6-2, 6-1 at second against Preston Poon). Also helping bring his team to victory was sophomore Sam Weissler at fifth over Garnet Mubeen (6-1, 6-1). Swarthmore’s only points were earned by Wieler at sixth, winning 6-2 against sophomore Jensen Reiter.
The most exciting as well as longest match was at third, as Hopkins sophomore Ben Hwang rallied it out with Kaye in a determining super-breaker. Hwang clinched the first set 6-0, followed by a 6-4 win by Kaye. After much competitive and intense play, Hwang emerged triumphant, taking the super-breaker 10-6 thus winning the match and helping secure victory for the Blue Jays.
But the Hopkins streak wasn’t finished just yet. On Sunday the team competed again, this time hosting 18th ranked Carnegie Mellon at the Green Spring Racquet Club. The Jays clinched a 7-2 victory over the Tartans, advancing their region standings to 8-2.
Unlike the previous day, the Jays did not seize the lead from the onset. During doubles play, Tartans Thomas Cooper and Jooho Yu beat out Garcia and Joachim 8-4 at second, but pair Hersh and Jeff Manei were able to tie up the match at third after winning their doubles play against Bryce Beisswanger and Kosuke Hasegwa, 8-3. Pair Brown and Lim were able to gain the Hopkins lead at first with an 8-6 victory over Christian Heaney-Secord and Duke Miller.
Singles play continued to secure the Jays victory. Weissler’s 6-3, 6-3 win at fifth over Harsha Rao and Lim’s 6-4, 6-2 win at fourth over Yuvraj Kumar were both fundamental in Hopkins eventual triumph. While Heaney-Secord beat out Brown in the third set of very competitive singles play 6-4, Hersh was able to beat Abhickek Alla at second, 7-5, 7-5. It was Garcia’s 6-3, 7-6 victory over Kasegawa as well as Hwang’s 7-6, 7-5 defeat of Miller that finalized another Hopkins victory.
The boys continue to rise in the ranks as they take home victory after victory. They recognize the importance of hard work and an incomparable team spirit, both of which were shown in the team's victories.
“This weekend's performance was a good showing from our team. I feel the team's confidence grows each day. We have many goals for this season and we are a focused team” says Lim. The boys have also made big goals for their future. “We have all the tools to win a national championship so we just need to keep improving as a team and individually. We hope to get more and more support as the year goes on” Lim said. His doubles partner Brown can only agree. “Our whole team has been playing very well and we all have high hopes for the rest of the season.”
Hopkins takes on the Gettysburg Bullets at home on April 2, 3:30 p.m.
