The Hopkins men’s tennis team went 1-1 as it hit the road this past Saturday for split squad play against Washington College and NC Wesleyan. The team turned in a victory against Washington College, sweeping the Shoremen 9-0.
Against the Battling Bishops, however, the team struggled, winning just one set en route to an 8-1 defeat. The Jays would also emerge victorious against McDaniel at home on Monday evening, with their 9-0 win putting them at 15-7 to conclude the regular season, with a perfect 8-0 record in the Centennial Conference.
Against Washington College, senior Edward Corty and sophomore Jeff Mackenzie started the day off strong for they Jays with an 8-4 win in second doubles. In first team doubles, a pair of freshmen, David Perez and Justin Kang edged out their opponents 8-6. Lastly, senior Jensen Reiter and junior Chris Jou turned in an 8-4 win to give the Jays a 3-0 lead at the end of doubles.
Hopkins would go on to dominate in the singles, not dropping a single set to the Shoremen. Corty would open up with a 6-1, 6-0 win in thirds, while Perez would follow with a pair of 6-1 wins in the sixth to give Hopkins the 5-0 lead necessary to guarantee victory.
The Jays would not rest easy as Mackenzie would then turn in a 6-0, 6-1 win in fourths, and Kang would follow that up with a 6-2, 6-1 in fifths. In firsts, Reiter turned in a 6-3, 6-0 performance, and Jou would seal the sweep for Hopkins with a 6-1, 6-0 win in seconds.
“Doubles started off slow but eventually each team got into rhythm and carried away with wins,” Kang said. “Singles, everyone had a good matchup and carried on the momentum from doubles. All in all, the dual match was good match for everyone to work on things and get match experience.”
Against NC Wesleyan, the Battling Bishops set the tone early, as second team doubles junior Nicholas Garcia and senior Noah Joachim were defeated handily 8-2, and sophomores Emerson Walsh and Mike Buxbaum fell 8-4 in firsts.
Senior Erik Lim and sophomore Jeremy Dubin nearly put points on the board for Hopkins, but fell just short, losing 9-8 in thirds.
Dubin would fall in just one set to open up singles, retiring prior to the second set. Senior Ben Hwang would fall in two sets, 3-6, 2-6-clinching the upset win for NC Wesleyan.
After defeating McDaniel 9-0 this past Monday, the Jays will look to defend their Centennial Conference title for the ninth year in a row this weekend at Homewood. The Jays, who are riding an 83-game conference win streak earned a bye for the quarterfinals, and will pay the winner of the Haverford-Dickinson match on Saturday morning.
