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The men’s and women’s tennis teams enjoyed a break from the indoor courts of the Midwest as they relished 70 degree weather and outdoor courts of Hilton Head, S.C.
Both teams lost their final matches on Friday on the spring break trip. The women were beaten by Div. I SUNY-Binghamton (N.Y.) 7-2. Junior Alison Hover continued her dominant play at No. 1 singles, improving her season record to 20-2. The men fell 6-3 to St. Olaf College (Minn.). The setbacks leave the Blugold men with an 8-6 season record while the women hold an 8-4 overall mark.
“That’s probably what we expected at this point,” said sophomore Jon Snodgrass in reference to the men’s 8-6 season record.
Thursday’s play resulted in similar fashion as the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) recorded 6-3 victories against both Blugold teams. The men’s loss snapped a seven-match winning streak. The St. Thomas men were 8-1 heading into their spring break competition. Junior Ryan Gruhlke was the only Blugold to record a singles victory as he was triumphant 7-5, 6-0 at the No. 4 spot.
“(St. Thomas) was pretty tough but we still played them close,” Gruhlke said. Senior Joe Johnston and sophomore Matt Widder both lost three-set matches at the top two positions. Snodgrass fell 6-4, 7-6.
“We definitely had our chances to win in three matches,” Snodgrass said.
The St. Thomas women were undefeated in 11 matches prior to their spring break, and they served the Eau Claire women a loss for the second straight day. Hover improved to 19-2 as she won her No. 1 singles match in straight sets. Sophomore Molly Cadwell also recorded a win at No. 6 singles while the doubles team of Hover and sophomore Jenny Stafford squeaked out a 9-8 win at the No. 1 spot.
“It was not our best (doubles) performance,” Hover said with a chuckle. “There were lots of un-forced errors in that match.”
The men’s team continued its winning ways from earlier in the week with Wednesday’s 6-1 defeat of Lawrence University. The win gave the men’s team their seventh consecutive dual meet victory of the year. The streak began Feb. 23 when the ‘Golds defeated Ripon College.
Gruhlke won his 11th match of the season with his 6-0, 6-0 route of Bill Bollow. At No. 6 singles, senior Steve Matuszewski defeated Evan Colter 6-0, 6-1 to better his season record to 10-2.
Widder and senior Bob Yunker won their eighth matches of the season, both in straight sets. Widder defeated Brian Hilgeman 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Yunker downed Dave Carter by the same score in the No. 5 singles match.
The women’s team lost their first dual meet since Sept. 7 when they fell to Middlebury College (Vt.) 7-2 Tuesday afternoon. Hover met up with Sandy Springs in a match that featured two players both ranked in the top 30 of the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association fall rankings – Hover, ranked No. 27 and Springs No. 29. Hover backed her ranking as she continued to roll at No. 1 singles by defeating Springs, 7-5, 7-5. The win marked the seventh consecutive victory for Hover as she improved to 18-2 on the season.
“It pretty much went back and forth all match and I ended up on top in both sets,” Hover said, adding that the match was her toughest thus far this season.
Hover and teammate Stafford fell 8-6 to the doubles pair of Spring and Nina Popel. After the Blugold tandem established an early 6-3 lead in the match, Hover said their opponents began making fewer errors. “We didn’t pick up our game like we needed to,” Hover said.
The men’s and women’s teams opened their spring break competition with a dismantling of Montreat College (N.C.), a NAIA school, on Monday. The men recorded a 7-0 win to extend their winning streak to six matches. Gruhlke became the first men’s player to reach 10 wins as his triumph at the No. 4 spot improved his season record to 10-4.
