After rattling off eight consecutive wins to pull to .500 on the season, the Georgetown men’s tennis team will head into the Big East tournament below .500 and with a pair of losses.

The Hoyas ended the regular season 10-12, earning them a six seed in the tournament. After falling to James Madison in a close 4-3 match up on Friday, the men suffered another defeat at Longwood on Saturday. The team, which is still suffering from a myriad of injuries, was swept in doubles play.

The Hoyas then became handicapped in singles when they ceded a point to Longwood after junior Adam Gross retired in his match. Down 2-0, seniors Jeff Schnell and Ted Tywang pulled off two strong first sets. But Schnell could not hold on after shutting out his opponent in the first set and lost 0-6, 6-4, 6-2. Tywang pulled off a straight set victory, taking the match to 6-3, 6-1.

Unfortunately, the Hoyas could not capture another point from there. Junior Ken Wong pushed his match to three sets, but sophomore Dave Tillem and freshman Tim Walsh never got things started against their opponents, and each eventually lost in straight sets.

The women suffered the same fate as the men this weekend at Longwood, although they kept their match to a close 4-3. The freshmen shined for Georgetown, as Maxi Theils, Alex Sebia and Liz Sullivan all earned singles victories. Sebia has been playing well of late and downed her opponent in straight sets. She is on a seven-match winning streak and has not lost a set in that span.

The three freshmen’s efforts were not enough to pull the Hoyas through, as fellow freshman Caroline Kuehn lost the deciding match in three sets. After falling behind a set and a break, Kuehn rallied back to extend the second set to a tiebreak, which she took control of from the beginning. Her momentum fell short, though, as she lost 6-3 in the third set.

The men and women next head to the University of South Florida for the Big East Conference Championship. The women are the 12 seed (of 12 teams) in the tournament and will play fifth-seeded DePaul Thursday at noon. Last season, the women did not make the conference tournament.

The men are the sixth seed (of nine teams) and have a first-round game against the host, third-seeded USF, Friday at noon. Last year, the men were the eighth seed in the tournament and finished in a tie for last place.

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