Amidst the string of losses both tennis teams have conjured up this last week, one player from each team maintained a winning record. Sophomore Lucas Lee and junior Kelsey Post have led their teams by being consistent performers on the court.
The Biola Eagles tennis teams had a rough week, as the women dropped all three of their matches and the men lost to both their opponents. The women fall to 3-9 on the season while the men move to 4-6.
losing in straight sets
The women’s team had a tough schedule, as they faced the No. 7 Brenau University Golden Tigers, the No. 8 Arizona Christian University Firestorm and the NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish.
“Our job is to focus on getting to the ball efficiently and hitting our targets and forget about their ranking,” said Dee Henry, women’s head coach. “Facing a highly ranked team one match doesn't really have anything to do the next match.”
Brenau proved the only team who could shut out the Eagles, as each of the matches against Arizona and Palm Beach resulted in an 8-1 score against the Eagles.
Each of the Eagles’ singles players lost in straight sets against the Golden Tigers, with senior Kathryn Ashford and sophomore Brooke Sanford getting the closest to taking a set, as they each had a set that finished at 6-3.
Post ended up as the bright spark for the Eagles this week, as she was the only one to win a match against the Firestorm and Sailfish. She is also four for five in recent matches while playing in the number four singles spot.
The women’s next opponent is Kenyon College, another non-Golden State Athletic Conference team, in a home matchup on March 15 starting at 4:30 p.m.
the men’s side
On the men’s side, they came very close to beating Arizona Christian, as the match pivoted on a three-set singles duel between the Firestorm’s number two player and Lee, who struggled with the flu all day. Lee won the first set 7-5, then dropped the second and third sets at 6-3 and 6-4, respectively. Junior Luke Mountain, who normally plays with Lee as the number one doubles team and in the number three singles spot, had to sit out the entire match with the flu. The Firestorm went on to win 5-4.
The visiting Palm Beach Sailfish walked away with the 7-2 victory over the Eagles, as the only matches Biola won came from the number two doubles team and Lee in the number two singles spot. Sophomore David Garcia, playing as the number four single, came the closest to winning, losing each set by two games, 7-5 and 6-4. Mountain played in the winning number two doubles team, but again sat out of singles play as head coach Brent Worthington substituted in senior Andrew Greenfield instead.
THE NEXT MATCHES
The men have two matches in the next week, first playing on March 12 at 1 p.m., as they host the Point Loma Nazarene University Sea Lions. They then will also play on March 15, but will face the Principia College Panthers at 2 p.m.
