Both of the Georgetown tennis teams wrapped up their seasons in the Big East Championship with contrasting results on the last weekend in April.
The Georgetown men’s tennis team (8-14, 0-3 Big East) started the tournament with a victory over St. John’s (11-15, 2-1 Big East) by a score of 4-2, before falling to Butler (18-6, 3-1 Big East) 4-3 in the next round. After winning the doubles point, the Blue and Gray saw strong victories from juniors Peter Beatty and Marco Lam at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively. After dropping the first set, Lam rebounded to take the match in three sets.
Freshman Ian Witmer closed out the win for the Hoyas with straight set victory at No. 6.
Head Coach Gordie Ernst cited the men’s team’s effort for its victory.
“Our guys fought really hard out there and believed in themselves, which I have been trying to get them to do all year. It was 93 degrees out there,” Ernst said. “Our guys were in much better shape, as St. John’s hadn’t played in a match in about a month. They also had some turnover at the coaching position.”
After defeating St. John’s, Georgetown fell to Butler. The Bulldogs eventually went on to win the Big East Championship. Once again, the Hoyas started off strong by grabbing the doubles point. Butler quickly responded by winning the next three singles matches. Beatty and Witmer responded for the Hoyas by grabbing victories at No. 1 and No. 6, thus setting up winner-take-all match at No. 3. After splitting the first two sets, Lam lost the third set 6-3, giving Butler the victory over Georgetown.
Ernst said that the weather conditions made the match more difficult for his players, especially for Lam who already played a three-set match the day before in the team’s victory over St. John’s.
“It was hot, and unfortunately Marco started to cramp up in the third set,” Ernst said.
Despite the loss, the men’s team can take many positives from the season. The team had an up-and-down season but was able to perform at a high level in the tournament. Narrowly losing to the eventual champion is an indication of the team’s progress throughout the year.
The Georgetown women’s tennis team (13-6, 1-2 Big East) lost in the first round to Seton Hall (8-10, 1-4 Big East) by a score of 4-1. Georgetown dropped the early doubles point and never responded, losing three of the next four singles matches to give Seton Hall the victory. Sophomore Risa Nakagawa recorded the lone victory for the Blue and Gray with her 6-1, 7-5 victory at the No. 3 position. The Hoyas went on to defeat Villanova (10-17, 3-3 Big East) in the backdraw.
In many ways, the women’s season was the reverse of the men’s, as the women’s team had a strong regular season but a disappointing Big East Championship. Coming into the tournament as one of the favorites, an early loss to Seton Hall was a disappointing finish to the season.
Nevertheless, several individuals recieved recognition for their performances. Senior Victoire Saperstein and Nakagawa both earned All-Big East Conference this year. The Big East recognized 12 players as All-Big East Conference, and this year marks the second consecutive year that Saperstein has earned the award.
“It was a disappointing end to the season, but we can take many positives from the seasons,” Ernst said. “We’re adding some new good recruits and expect many of the same girls to be back next year.”
