One month ago, the men’s tennis team came home from a dismal trip to Florida with its future looking bleak. The Hoyas were staring down a 2-10 record, the heart of their schedule and several teams with nationally ranked players.

Despite all that, the Hoyas began tearing up the court, squeaking out several close wins to get back on track and begin a winning streak. And players, most notably junior Adam Gross, began outlasting their opponents in deciding sets, and dismissing anyone who stood in their path.

This weekend, the men kept their winning streak going, lifting themselves back to a .500 record for the first time since January.

The men returned home this weekend after beating cross-town rivals George Washington last Friday – senior Jeff Schnell defeated regionally-ranked Mustafa Gencsoy 6-4, 6-1; sophomore Anthony Tan, battling back from two match-points down, took his singles match in a shutout tiebreaker; senior Ted Tywang kept the match alive for the Hoyas by winning his match in straight sets; and the men then clinched the doubles point for the 4-3 win.

The men then faced two Big East matchups, looking to extend a six-match winning streak.

The men dispatched Villanova 6-1. Senior Etienne Paris clinched the match for the Hoyas with a 6-2, 5-1 (retired) win over Villanova’s Brett Tobin, keeping a personal undefeated streak alive. The men started quickly by capturing all of the doubles matches in a relatively easy fashion. Only junior Kevin Walsh and sophomore Dave Tillem were pushed, winning 7-2 in the tiebreak.

The men captured the first sets in all of the singles matches, and then closed the match with straight-set wins in five of the six matches, giving the Hoyas their seventh win in a row.

The Blue and Gray then won their eighth consecutive match and second straight Big East match by defeating Connecticut, 6-1, on Saturday. The Hoyas once again got off to a quick start, winning all of the doubles matches. Tywang and Schnell were off the courts almost as quickly as the singles matches began, with dominating 6-0, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-0 victories respectively. Juniors Ken Wong and Gross won their respective matches in straight sets, and Tan battled his way back to a third set tiebreak to take his match.

The women’s team has been unable to replicate the sustained success of the men’s team, but did manage to pick up a couple of recent wins. After falling to Rutgers 7-0, the women came back and completed a Georgetown sweep of the George Washington Colonials. Freshman Maxi Thiels captured the victory for the Hoyas, coming from behind in the deciding set to win in a tiebreak. Junior Courtney Olsen, senior Liz Winokur and freshman Alex Sebia each had fairly easy matches, winning in straight-sets, winning the match for Georgetown 5-2.

The Hoyas returned home to crush Villanova in a 5-2 victory. The freshmen once again proved key for Georgetown, as Sebia clinched the victory with a 6-4, 6-1 victory, and Thiels posted a 6-0, 6-3 victory. Team veterans, seniors Stephanie Cohen and Olsen, both recorded straight-set victories.

The winning streak ended there as the Hoyas fell in a close 4-3 loss to UConn. After ceding the doubles point in a close 9-8 loss, the Hoyas battled to constantly even the match. Cohen rolled over her opponent 6-0, 6-1, leveling the match to one all. After going down again, the Hoyas pulled back with a tight two-set win from Olsen. Unfortunately, the Hoyas weren’t able to hold on, dropping the next two matches before Sebia closed out with a dominating 6-2, 6-2 win.

The men and women will finish the rest of their seasons away from home. Both have matches at James Madison on Thursday afternoon.

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