Just after highly ranked Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were upset in the Australian Open, the Hoyas looked for upsets of their own. Facing tough competition on the road this weekend, the Hoya men came up empty to even out their record, while the women took one of three matches to open their spring campaign. On Friday, Georgetown traveled to No. 38 Old Dominion for joint men’s and women’s tennis matches. The Old Dominion Monarchs proved tough for the Hoyas, as both the men’s and women’s teams suffered their first losses of the season. “We lost 6-1 both days,” Head Coach Gordie Ernst said of his men’s team. “But we were literally a few points away in each match to a win. That’s how tennis is, especially college tennis.” Sophomore Will Lowell had the sole win for the men (2-2) against ODU, beating freshman Timo Gehrke, 6-4, 6-3, in the fourth singles position. Senior Jeff Schnell and junior Kevin Walsh, the No. 12 Big East pair, fought a tough match against Old Dominion’s senior duo of Aleksandr Seleznev and Eidy Igarashi in the top doubles spot, but fell 8-4. For the women (1-2, 1-1 Big East), Old Dominion proved to be an even bigger challenge, as the Monarchs swept the Hoyas 7-0. The match featured three freshmen, Maxi Thiels, Caroline Kuehn and Elizabeth Sullivan, all of whom played doubles, and all of whom kept their doubles matches close at 8-4. In what proved to be the closest singles match of the day, senior Stephanie Cohen fell to Old Dominion’s sophomore Daniela Cohen in a tie-breaking third set, after rallying back to take the second set 6-4. Following the losses at Old Dominion, the teams parted ways, with the men heading to Annapolis to take on Navy’s Midshipmen, and the women heading to Syracuse, N.Y., to play dual matches with both Cincinnati and Syracuse. The women got the trip to New York off on the right foot, as Cohen, a native of Fayetteville, N.Y., clinched the contest against Cincinnati with a 6-3, 2-6 and 6-2. “It was nice because my family and friends were there,” Cohen said in a press release. “[Getting the match-clinching win] was one of the best experiences of my college tennis career.” The Hoyas began the matches with some quick doubles wins. Cohen and junior Courtney Olsen captured an 8-5 win, followed by an 8-6 win from senior Liz Winokur and Sullivan, and then the freshman pair of Alex Sebia and Thiels finished with a strong doubles sweep for Georgetown. With the 5-2 win over Cincinnati, the girls marked their first conference win since March of 2006. “I was a little hesitant to book Big East matches early in the year . but it worked out,” Ernst said. Unfortunately the momentum proved to be insufficient in beating the Syracuse Orange, as Sebia and Thiels lost a tight 8-6 match in doubles and the team was swept in singles. The only victory came off the rackets of Cohen and Olsen, who won their doubles match, 8-3. With the women in upstate New York, the men headed to Maryland to take on Navy. The men, who upset Navy last year and earned the Hoyas and Ernst a mention in Sports Illustrated, forced Navy into three sets in the third, fourth and fifth singles spots. Sophomore Anthony Tan and Lowell took a one-set-to-love lead before Navy rallied to steal the doubles point. Schnell, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s 25th-ranked player in the Northeast, was unable to overcome Navy’s No. 24 Nate Helms in the first singles position, losing 6-2, 6-2. Tan avenged his earlier loss with a 6-3, 6-2 win at second singles to prevent the sweep. The Hoyas left with a 6-1 loss. “All the guys played pretty well,” Ernst said. “We just need more training right now.” The men take on Pennsylvania next in Philadelphia, Pa., on Feb. 1 and then travel to College Park, Md., to face Maryland the following day. Ernst coached the tennis program at Penn from 1998 to 2000. “I scheduled two tough teams before DePaul and Marquette [Feb. 9 and 10],” Ernst said. “And I hope my guys are ready to beat up on my old team.” The women have a pair of home matches at the Army-Navy Country Club with Auburn on Feb. 2 and Dartmouth the next day.